TV Anchor: ‘Race-Baiters’ Behind Black-Mob Claims

Ravi Baichwal is not going to like this: Three-thousand people who fought, looted, rioted, assaulted, cursed, threatened, hurled racial epithets and vandalized a Chicago neighborhood over the weekend.

And all of them were black.

Baichwal, a news anchor for the ABC affiliate in Chicago, says anyone who notices that is “an idiot.”

Repeated examples of black mob violence in Chicago are “not riots,” Baichwal said. “It’s disaffected youth for sure,” and anyone who disagrees is “just race-baiting.”

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Despite abundant video evidence, Baichwal was not buying it. Perhaps that is why Baichwal’s news outlet was just one of several in Chicago to downplay the number of rioters and the extent of the damage from the latest violence.

Baichwal’s news station reported that 30 “young people” started the problem at the Ford City Mall, with the number growing to 100 as the mob moved outside.

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The videos, on-line comments, and Chicago police officers tell a different story.

“This story is NOT accurate at all,” said a Chicago police officer who grew up near the Ford City Mall, referring to the Sun Times report. “They were looting, causing HAVOC not just in the mall, but stores all around the mall too.”

Several people said that the mob moved to the nearby Best Buy, Olive Garden and Sports Authority, where they did “severe damage” and caused many people to hide in the back of the stores. The video bears them out.

Urban101.com — “Chicago’s Number One Urban Web Site” — estimated 3,000 people were at the “riot.”

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Several videos show a chaotic scene full of violence and mayhem, in and out of the mall, spilling into surrounding neighborhoods.

One video shows a large group of black people in the middle of a busy street near the mall, with the videographer urging one of the rioters to “throw that b — -. Throw that b — -.”

Which in this case meant pick up a chair from the middle of a street, run up to an SUV stuck in traffic, and use the chair to smash the rear window.

One poster to the Sun Times news story identified only as “terrified” may have been in that car. Or “terrified” may have been in a different car, either way:

This was not just a “disturbance” as the media has been calling it. I was driving on Cicero when a mob of people ran into the street and surrounded my car. They then shattered my windows and attempted to get in. I honestly thought I was going to die. These young adults need to be held accountable for their actions. There were 700+ individuals rioting and looting. Why?

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Other videos show fighting, people jumping on cars, and other acts of lawlessness. Chicago police arrested 20: All charged with misdemeanors.

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As usual, the police officers at SecondCityCop Blog were keeping it real:

As a PO (police officer) who works in 018 (downtown) I can tell you this is getting way out of control. I don’t know what the answer is but something needs to be done to prevent large groups of black kids going around with the sole purpose of causing trouble. Maybe I just don’t know but in all seriousness can anyone think of an incident in which another race of kids gets into a pack with the sole purpose of causing mayhem?

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