Baltimore Mayor Apologizes for ‘Thugs’ Comment
BALTIMORE, April 30 (UPI) — Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake took back her comments calling protesters “thugs,” saying she used the wrong words in the heat of the moment.
“I wanted to clarify my comments on ‘thugs.’ When you speak out of frustration and anger, one can say things in a way that you don’t mean,” she said on Twitter. “That night we saw misguided young people who need to be held accountable, but who also need support. And my comments then didn’t convey that.”
Critics say Rawlings-Blake and others who have used the word to describe the protesters, including President Barack Obama, are being insensitive. The episode also underscores the fine line Rawlings-Blake is walking in the largely black city. Raised in an affluent family, some charge she’s out of touch with the city’s poor.
Baltimore police Capt. Eric Kowalczyk, in an afternoon news conference, announced there is a planned protest starting around 5:30 p.m. at the Penn Station train station.
“We anticipate that that will be a large group that will … march through the city to City Hall,” he said.
“So long as people remain peaceful in their expression we continue to support everyone’s First Amendment rights and their ability to voice their concern,” he said.
Some of the more than 200 protesters and looters arrested Monday and Tuesday started appearing in court Wednesday, with a judge setting bails for some defendants between $10,000 and $15,000.
