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opinion roundup

What people are saying about the Baltimore riots

Residents cleaned up Tuesday after the previous evening of riots in Baltimore following the funeral of Freddie Gray, a man who died in police custody. AP

On the day they laid their son to rest, the family of Freddie Gray, who died while he was in police custody earlier this month, asked for peace.

Instead, chaos took over Baltimore on Monday.

The National Guard is now there, taking positions all across the city, as several people have spoken out against the violence that erupted.

Below is a collection of quotes and tweets on the situation:

“When nonviolence is preached as an attempt to evade the repercussions of political brutality, it betrays itself. When nonviolence begins halfway through the war with the aggressor calling time out, it exposes itself as a ruse. When nonviolence is preached by the representatives of the state, while the state doles out heaps of violence to its citizens, it reveals itself to be a con. And none of this can mean that rioting or violence is ‘correct’ or ‘wise,’ any more than a forest fire can be ‘correct’ or ‘wise.’ Wisdom isn’t the point tonight. Disrespect is. In this case, disrespect for the hollow law and failed order that so regularly disrespects the community.” — The Atlantic national correspondent Ta-Nehisi Coates

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“We had a chance, here in the post-Ferguson era, to get this right: To demand justice the way Dr. [Martin Luther] King would have wanted it, to gather the big voices of Baltimore, black and white, and demand change, and not just in how the police operate.” — Baltimore Sun columnist Dan Rodricks

“The media’s hysteria over this just serves to distract from the real crime: maintaining the status quo.” — Belén Fernández on Al Jazeera America