Entire Baltimore Neighborhood Under Lockdown: "Police Declared Martial Law"
Content adapted from this Zerohedge.com article : Source
Five days ago, Det. Sean Suiter, a married father of five and an 18-year veteran with the Baltimore Police, was patrolling the streets of West Baltimore around 5pm last Wednesday when he saw suspicious activity. Suiter approached a man and was shot point blank in the head, in a summary execution. He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition where he later died of his injuries.
Rest In Peace Detective Sean Suiter https://t.co/NiKIdmzbAD pic.twitter.com/l7vkrOKjMv
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) November 16, 2017
In response, Baltimore Police reacted with 'fire and fury' turning the neighborhood where Suiter was shot into an "open-air prison", shutting down city streets and enabling checkpoints for citizens while officers in tactical gear went door to door, according to Baltimore Brew. Residents were prohibited from entering their own neighborhood unless they showed proper identification, these extreme measures have been in place for 4-5 days.
"They've been to my house three times asking, 'Did you hear anything? Do you know anything,'" said Edward Stanley, a local resident, who had to show a yellow slip before entering the neighborhood.
Baltimore Brew said, the neighborhood was tuned into "open-air prison", as the complete lockdown was in attempt to collect evidence and search for the shooter.
Police initially said they needed to cordon off the area to try to capture the shooter. Police have said Suiter was in the 900 block of Bennett Place, investigating a previous homicide, when he was shot on Wednesday. So far, no arrests have been announced in the case. This morning, homicide detective Mike Newton told The Brew that the lockdown was necessary to collect evidence.
One community group took pictures of a checkpoint in West Baltimore.
#FreeWestBaltimore pic.twitter.com/P61qoDLHnq
— Baltimore BLOC (@BmoreBloc) November 19, 2017
15 @BaltimorePolice vehicles on Schroeder alone and dozens more on surrounding blocks. All the officers are just sitting in their cars. pic.twitter.com/M9zCCltdzK
— Baltimore BLOC (@BmoreBloc) November 19, 2017
Another twitter account describes how 'the police declared marital law', as one police officer with an assault rifle guards a corner.
And apparently police been standing on corners like this the last two days pic.twitter.com/y9Qrd2TSRe
— Pulla (@KINGDACEO) November 17, 2017
Citizens describe how their day lives have been disrupted as West Baltimore remains under police control, as per Baltimore Brew:
Two women walking down Franklin Street to get to their cars, parked blocks away because of the lockdown, complained that they had been harassed by officers.
"They know I live here. They've seen me come and go. But this one had to pat me down. He [the officer] went like this to my jacket, grabbing it," said Shelly, 25, who asked that her last name not be used.
"They wanted to know where I had been. Why do I have to tell him that? It's just me in my flip-flops trying to go to my own home."
"We haven't been able to get our mail for four days," said the woman with her, Samantha, 50, who also asked not be identified. "Is the city going to pay the late fees on my bills?"
"It's so sad what happened to the officer and I hope they catch whoever did it," another woman said. "But this is really overboard. I've never seen anything like it."
The ACLU of Maryland released a statement yesterday, who are "troubled by reports that some persons entering or leaving the area have been subject to pat down searches, and that non-residents have been barred from entering the area".
"While the search for a killer is, of course, a high priority for the police, the limits on lawful police behavior do not disappear even when engaged in that pursuit. And at least one federal appellate court has said that a similar police cordon and checkpoint system was unconstitutional.
"The residents of Baltimore, and, in particular, the residents of the affected community, deserve a clear explanation from the City as to why this unprecedented action has been taken, what rules are being enforced, and why it is lawful. The need to secure a crime scene from contamination to preserve evidence does not, on its face, explain the wide area to which access has been restricted for days after the incident."
On-the-ground information is scarce to those outside the cordon because access to residents, including by the media, has also been restricted. For that reason, we encourage anyone who has this kind of information to contact us at [email protected].
WBALTV11 visited one checkpoint in West Baltimore:
West Franklin Street is back open to traffic.
Police plan to release the West Baltimore crime scene Monday morning #WBAL pic.twitter.com/AgyDlqjWQH
— Vanessa Herring (@VanessaWBAL) November 20, 2017
According to one citizen, 'this is the 3rd time in less than 3 years that West Baltimore has been occupied by police'…
This is the 3rd time in less than 3 years that West Baltimore has been occupied by police:
- April 27 - May 1 in 2015 after the funeral of Freddie Gray
- June 27, 2016 at a street celebration of the life of rapper Lor Scoota
- Nov. 16-???? in 2017 after Det. Suiter was killed pic.twitter.com/C85qSSl6Br
— T'Challa ??Ra ???? (@BmoreDoc) November 18, 2017
Baltimore Brew concludes by saying the Baltimore Police will "clear the crime scene" on Monday, so in a few hours.
Perhaps in a preview of things to come, the 4-5 day siege of West Baltimore by Police has been described by one resident as 'Martial Law'. Readers concerned about social tensions in the US are urged to monitor events in Baltimore, which better than Chicago or Detroit now demonstrates just how the United States is marching straight into a new, Orwellian era.
The tags for this post are most appropriate. "collapse," "war," and "shtf." That pretty much says it all about what is currently happening in the US.
The militarization of the police over the recent past did not simply happen by chance. With the impending collapse, it seems that the powers-that-be realized they would need this "military power" in order to maintain control.
They're losing control of the economy, and they're losing control of the world. (When was the last time the US military-industrial complex actually won a war?) The situation is grim for them, and they'll make the situation even grimmer for the population.
Hell, winning wars is bad for business! You deprive yourself of enemies, and thus profit centers, when you defeat them.
Read 'In Search of Enemies', by John Stockwell, former Chief of Station (CIA) Angola (1970s IIRC). Look how al Qaeda has been being groomed since that very time, being formed by Zbigniew Brzezinski and Jimmy Carter - and George HW Bush, who was head of the CIA at the time.
This isn't 'losing control'. This is business.
Chaos is a ladder.
Great point, particularly in light of the fact that the US has not won a war (not counting minor invasions / bombing runs) since abut 1945. And then it was Russia that actually did the most to win that war.
And as Gerald Celente says, "When all else fails, take 'em to war." When your economic stimulus programs fail, utterly and continually, and when the people start losing enthusiasm for the bailouts of the heads-I-win, tails-you-lose capitalists, the only recourse they have left is war.
It's great for business, and great for whipping up some patriotic fervor.
The militarization of America. This is a process that started a while ago. When you look at the way the police are outfitted, it is basically a military regime. Perhaps these are needed in these major cities but it does raise the question of the chicken or the egg? Is the populous so violent because of the police aggression or vice versa?
Yea, the ghetto is violent because of the police. Cmon dude, really?
This is very alarming, mostly because it isn't completely singular, and it isn't being challenged, not in court, not by residents, not by the city. Worst of all, the taxes of the residents of Baltimore are paying for this seige. Is this why you work, to pay oppressors to encircle you, and your neighbors, with assault weapons?
The police forces have been thoroughly militarized across America, and linked to deep state JTTF (FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces) and Fusion Centers across the country, one in every state.
Most alarming of all is the internecine contest over the Federal government. This last Saturday, 11/18/17, a Marine expeditionary force - apparently NOT under orders from the top - buzzed Langley (CIA headquarters) in a show of force generally considered to be intended to cause the CIA to reconsider the policy of arming mercenaries, like al Qaeda, and paying them to shoot American marines, which is what the CIA does.
THAT is alarming. Also, comforting. Marines appear to be unhappy about being considered cash cows for the defense industry, and to be quite willing and able to undertake action to counter the deep state profiteers that would like nothing more than to plunge us all into WWIII. That's the comforting part.
However the prospect of armed conflict between federal government agencies, which would be unlikely to be contained to that battlefield, and highly likely to become a spark touching off a wider conflagration, perhaps even civil war, is troubling.
Thanks for bringing this to my attention.
That is very interesting. I had not heard of the Marines storming the CIA HQ.
With regard to this info (as well as your above comment), I have to say that, while I am not a fan of any country's military, there are times when the military offers a better solution to the corruption of government, or, in the case of the USA, to the nefarious and loathsome CIA.
The CIA has been controlling and masterminding many aspects of US foreign policy for decades. (Remember the Bay of Pigs?) And the "internecine contest" is also not new, as the CIA has apparently stuck its nose into domestic affairs too. And there's nothing that would stop them from getting rid of a president who becomes too much of a nuisance.
This is all quite alarming. Let the alarm bells ring.
The report I read particularly made a point of stating they did NOT land, or force entry at all, but merely buzzed the joint for about a half hour.
Hal Turner, former spook, has a site where I read it.
Not something the MSM is gonna publish, so I haven't seen independent verification.
Ataturk, and the Turkish armies' repeated coups, restoring secular rule there, is a good example of military providing better handovers of civilian rulers, as Thailand also presents multiple examples of same.
However, I suspect that isn't my preferred means of regime change, particularly as I'm against regimes altogether.
Even after the CIA directly participated in the Kennedy assassination, the military didn't threaten Langley, as buzzing did this weekend.
I reckon this is a new level of contest. All my alarm bells are ringing.
Thanks for the details. After reading your comment, I googled it and found a few reports, but you're right in saying the MSM is not gonna cover it.
Good points re Turkey and Thailand.
I live in Chiang Mai now (I was in Singapore at time of most recent coup). Of all the Thais I've met over the past few years, in Singapore and throughout Thailand, I've only ever met one person who resented the military for taking over, quieting the civil unrest, and restoring a bit of peace. Most people, from educated urbanites to some less educated rural folk, realize that the current "military rule" is better than "Shinawatra rule."
The current military govt is not necessarily the best way, but when you have the Shinawatra family engaged in nepotism, kleptocracy, and support / vote-buying of various types, the military provided the only viable option. The military may be evil, but they're the lesser of two evils.
Anyway, RiiiiiiiiiiiiiNG. ...
Rule number 1, don't kill police detectives in the ghetto
Great work , you doing great. I love this post .
And thanks for sharing
Namste