Kaboom! Now Black Mobs Kill 4th of July

The threat of a repeat of black mob violence on the Fourth of July is causing at least three cities to cancel their annual Independence Day fireworks parties.

Black mob violence has marred for several years the annual holiday celebrations in the Cleveland suburb of Bedford. Almost none of which made its way to the local media. But the city council heard an earful from local residents following last year’s holiday violence.

They reported that 50 to 80 black people were hitting people in the face and disrupting the festival and surrounding areas.

“Police officers used pepper ball pellets and a taser,” said city council minutes from a special meeting in August 2012. “Even the Wal-Mart and Get-Go store had to be closed for three hours.”

“The mayor was shocked by what he had witnessed,” said the minutes. The mayor assured the audience that Bedford was “not the only city that had these types of problems.” People were “traveling from city to city just causing problems.”

Because Bedford no longer has a daily newspaper, the city sent out a “Code Red” message warning residents of the violence and lawlessness that was “out of control” at their event. Three surrounding police agencies were called in to quell the violence.

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Some of the residents complained of “political correctness” that prevented them from talking about what really happened. City manager Henry Angelo did not deny that black mobs were responsible for the violence. But he did say it was “contemptuous” that anyone would notice.

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Bedford is known as the home of Archibald MacNeal Willard, the artist who created the iconic fife and drum painting, “Spirit of ’76.” But in the end, even Willard could not save the fireworks of Bedford and the city council canceled it after deciding it was just too dangerous.

Another Cleveland suburb, Shaker Heights, also canceled Fourth of July fireworks.

“There have been problems in maintaining order and dealing with huge numbers of young people who have shown up through social media at the fireworks and who have been disruptive,” said Mayor Earl Leiken to the Shaker Heights Patch.

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In one news story at the Cleveland Plain Dealer, a reader was frustrated that the paper had not reported the riot.

“My daughter and I will NOT be back next year. ‘Daddy why are all those kids screaming, swearing and fighting?’ ‘Because their parents didn’t raise them any better honey.’

“Nothing better to see police in riot gear riding on the outside of a SWAT van as the fireworks celebrating our freedom from the English rule rush toward a crowd of idiots, Then police officers telling people that are there to watch the fireworks that THEY have to leave.

“But I thought that the police would put an end to that. I was wrong.”

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The year before, Shaker Heights had a similar experience. A few weeks after that event, a columnist for the Plain Dealer got around to writing:

“We were watching fireworks on July 4th in Shaker Heights. The only fireworks we saw were in the sky, but in another area, kids went wild. Some 500 to 1,000 showed up in a flash mob.

“Harmless fun? Not to the teen who ended up with a broken jaw.”

On Twitter, a black woman from Cleveland who goes by the handle @Coke216, had another perspective on Shaker Heights 2012: “Yo, I got attacked by racist cops and attack dogs yesterday, cuz n**** wanted to start a riot at the fireworks. Lol.”

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Bedford and Shaker Heights were not the first cities in Ohio to cancel their fireworks because of racial violence. Just the latest. Prior to this year, Euclid and Warrensville Heights also canceled their celebrations after extended experiences with violence.

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As these and other cities canceled their fireworks and surrounding parties, other cities such as Baltimore are gearing up to prepare for the annual violence.

The Baltimore Inner Harbor has been the site of black mob violence during the holiday for years. State legislator Pat McDonough called on the governor last year to declare the upscale Inner Harbor a “No-Go Zone” because of black mob violence.

This year, the city is in the midst of a record-breaking crime wave, and the police are promising a “dramatic increase” in presence through July 4, said the Baltimore Sun.

Ditto at Fort Lauderdale: The city experienced unprecedented black mob violence at the boardwalk over the Memorial Day weekend, and now the city has “tripled the number of officers normally assigned to the beach,” said city commissioner Dean Trantalis. “Be assured: The city is ready for the Fourth of July.”

Last year, Chris Rock began the holiday with an explosive tweet: “Happy white peoples Independence Day. The slaves weren’t free but I’m sure they enjoyed fireworks.”

That night, more than a dozen cities including Chicago, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Columbus, Albany (Georgia,) Waco, Peoria, Greensboro, Peoria experienced large scale black mob violence. Some of the fireworks were canceled before they were over. Some of the crowds shot fireworks at the police.

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