April 25, Baltimore was terrorized with a series of violent protests that turned the city from a peaceful place to a source of nationwide publicity and scrutiny. These violent protests made America rethink racial tensions in Baltimore but also in America as a whole.

A mixture of peaceful protests and riots started after the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year old; was arrested by police on suspicion of having a switchblade. While being transported, Gray was not put in a seat belt and as a result of a rough ride sustained neck and spinal injuries and fell into a coma and died the following week.

From April 18 to April 24, many citizens of Baltimore protested peacefully at various police departments all over the city, with no major incidents. These protests were similar to the protests in NYC for Eric Garner and Ferguson for Trayvon Martin. But on April 25, violence broke out and continued to grow for four days even after a curfew was instituted. After the violence subsided, the curfew was lifted but the riots has left 113 police officers injured and almost 500 people arrested in those four days. Though there were much more peaceful protests in Baltimore than violent ones, the media exploited this violence for views. But this constant media coverage was not entirely bad, as it has caused people around the country to debate whether the violence in Baltimore was justified or just senseless rioting?

There are varying opinions on this subject. Many news sources show the burning of a CVS and looting, while others show people cleaning the streets after the riots. In a news analysis, Slate calculated that news sources that were more conservative were more likely to use the word riot over protest. The conservative Fox News used the word riot 2.5 times more than protest, while moderate CNN only used riot slightly more than protest and The Nation (left-leaning) used the word protest five times more than riot. This shows that the media greatly influences what people think took place in Baltimore.

What happened in Baltimore was a protest that had small outburst of riots. What the media isn’t showing you is that there are peaceful protesters protecting the police from rioters and kids giving police officers water while quelling the riots in the hot sun. The events that took place in Baltimore are protests but the media knows that violence will get the views. But these protests have exposed a multitude of racial tensions in Baltimore and shown the need for better relations between police and civilians, and a hope that news-outlets will learn the difference between a riot and a protest.