Freddie Gray’s death did not pass unnoticed in Baltimore. Violent riots took place yesterday, as the city became packed with angry protesters who took their frustration to the next level. On Tuesday morning, as sunlight started to overwhelm the city, its scars invaded the retina of each wanderer who had the curiosity to see what this “war” left behind. Buildings and cars were burnt, windows were broken, stores were wrecked.
After Freddie Gray’s funeral yesterday afternoon, the streets were invaded with rioters who were prepared to show how furious they were at the way he died and how personal they could take matters. A state of emergency was declared in Baltimore by the governor on Monday, the 27th of April. Schools were shut down and the parents were advised to watch their children and prevent them from taking part in the riot. The National Guard was called to help the local and state police. Around 5,000 guard members and 5,000 officers from other police departments came to the city. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said in a statement that “thugs” are destroying the city and imposed a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew on Tuesday.
Some of the protesters were armed with crowbars that they did not hesitate to use against officers who were trying to reestablish order. Rocks were thrown at the police, patrol cars were devastated while others smashed the windows of the stores, stole items and set fire to some very important buildings. Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said that some of these buildings were constructed with great effort and that communities in need really depended on them. He was also worried that the city would not recover soon from such devastation. “I’ve seen cities that haven’t recovered 50 years later,” he stated in a conference on Monday. Social media was abundant with “#purge” messages which made allusion to the movie “The Purge”, that depicted a 12-hour period in which any crime was allowed.
According to Batts, more than 12 officers were badly hurt and a few suffered severe injuries. Even if their situation is stable now, the aggressiveness towards them might have serious consequences on their bodies.
Those responsible for starting up such a massive riot seem to be a few gangs that decided to take over parts of the city and attack police officers.
Officials of the Justice Department, along with the Mayor and the Governor all stated that they would do everything in their power to reestablish order and make sure the citizens feel safe in the city again, while putting all their efforts into ending all acts of violence.
Freddie Gray’s family talked to the press as well, saying that such violence is inadmissible and that Freddie wouldn’t have wanted this kind of revenge.
Freddie Gray died on April 19, 2015, while in police custody, five days after he was arrested, from severe spinal injuries. Allegations of having employed brutal force during the arrest were made to the police officers who arrested him. These allegations came after two bystanders filmed the arrest. The clip shows Freddie Gray in distress, being dragged to the police van. However, the police officers denied having used brutal force during the arrest. Protests following his death started on April 25 in the center of the city. Most marchers were non-aggressive then, with a few exceptions – who damaged some police cars and started throwing rocks at the officers. A photographer complained of having been beaten by two police officers during the protest.
The real riot began on the 27th of April, with protesters displaying unusual violence and desire to wreck and leave the city deeply scarred.

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Michele Leonhart, the chief of Drug Enforcement Administration is soon going to step down after mishandling the sex-related controversy involving the DEA agents who attended a party in Colombia. According to the news reports at the time, they had prostitutes hired for them by members of the Colombian drug cartels.

She is also known to have had disagreements with various officials, including the president over legalizing marijuana. She announced that her retirement is due in May, thus putting an end to a 35-year career in the agency and an 8-year management of the DEA.

The news of her retirement was received with mixed feelings by other officials. Attorney General Eric Holder stated that she had devoted “her life and her professional career to the defense of the nation”, making no reference to the scandal she neglected to investigate accordingly.

However, White House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, along with Democrat Elijah Cummings characterized her decision to retire as the right thing to do, stating that they are welcoming fresh leadership in order to give DEA a chance to restore itself.

Bob Goodlatte, House Judiciary Committee Chairman was in the same frame of mind, approving of Leonhart’s announcement to retire. He made reference to the past events and emphasized the importance of putting an end to the unjustified protection of agents that misbehave. Michele Leonhart did not react to these statements and made no public comments.

Officially, the reason of her departure is her attitude towards the prostitution scandal involving seven agents. She classified the incident as minor and they were only suspended for 10 days. However, a former administrator of the DEA stated that the real reasons behind her departure were of political nature.

According to him, Leonhart had the courage to stand up to the president and challenge his decision of supporting the legalization of marijuana in states like Colorado and Washington. Obama declared at the time that marijuana was less dangerous than alcohol and that the penalties should not be as harsh as they were.

Nevertheless, Leonhart boldly opposed the states’ decision to go forward with legalizing marijuana.

After the hearings that took place last week, the White House press secretary Josh Earnest declined to defend Michele Leonhart and did not mention whether or not Obama had confidence in her. He only referred to the fact that the accusations that the seven agents faced were “troubling” and that the president expected a lot from the people involved in the administration.

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Security Services face another incident which could place them under scrutiny for not taking enough safety measures for those currently residing in the White House. A fifty-four-year old man was arrested on Sunday, the 19th of April, 2015 for trying to jump the fence of the White House on the south side of the complex. The incident happened at 10.45 p.m. . Fortunately, he was immediately stopped and arrested by US Secret Services Uniformed Division Officers.
Jerome R. Hunt is originally from Hayward, California. While attempting to scale the tall fence, he was also carrying a suspicious parcel. This package was classified as harmless after careful examinations carried out by the officers.
Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary gave details of the incident to the press, saying that everything is currently under control.
When asked about the fence jumper, Jason Chaffetz, White House oversight Committee Chairman, stated that the major goal is prevention and that further investigations will be made. Jerome R. Hunt is supposed to appear in front of a Superior Court Jury to face charges of illegal entry in the White House premises.
A few days before this event, a U.S. Official declared to the CNN that there have been discussions to add steel spikes to the tips of the fence surrounding the White House. This would be a temporary situation but might prove very effective in preventing other incidents involving people attempting to break into the perimeters of the White House. A decision in this respect has not yet been made.
The Secret Service has been long criticized and accused for lapses in the security that is their duty to provide for the most important people in the United States. Last year, on September 19, a man holding a knife scaled the fence and managed to enter the executive mansion. His goal was to find the president. That incident was preceded by six other similar events in 2014 and sixteen cases since 2007. Among these, one event even involved two officials. Over a month ago, two Secret Service Officers who were intoxicated crashed a White House barrier with their car.
Thus, the question remains as to whether everything is done to maintain safety at the White House. One thing is for sure – people’s trust in the Secret Services is starting to decline.

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Due to Hillary Clinton’s recently announced presidential campaign, the Clinton Foundation is making some major changes about who can donate and who cannot.

Disgruntled critics believe that allowing foreign donations to the charity will ease even more the possibility of governments and other influent donors making contributions of millions of dollars in exchange for political leverage.

This policy changes could represent a serious culpability for the foundation, as well as for Hillary’s presidential bid, according to the CBS News correspondent.

Ever since its creation back in 2001, The Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation has been widely renowned for funding grants and doing health, climate and poverty work. And for all this to happen, the Foundation has received donations rising to at least $42 million, and a lot of it has come from foreign governments.

In a recent statement, the former Secretary of State said she was very proud of what the foundation has accomplished so far and thanked the hundreds of thousands of people who became supporters of the charity during its 14 years of existence.

Most recent changes in the foundation’s policy mention that large donations will be accepted from now on only from the governments of Germany, Norway, Australia, The Netherlands, Canada and the United Kingdom. Financial contributions coming from any other country, including Saudi Arabia, will no longer be accepted, as the charity has received stern criticism over such donations.

However, before the Clinton charity issued these new policies, other presidential candidates had already dug their teeth in. Republican candidate Rand Paul appeared on Sunday in the news program “Face the Nation” and criticized Hillary for accepting money from countries where women’s rights are neglected. He added that for a woman such as Hillary who prides herself in defending equal rights for all women, such practices look really bad.

Other foreign governments who aren’t on the “accepted” list can still contribute through the Clinton Global Initiative, a smaller branch of the charity, by paying attendance fees.

The modifications in the charity’s policies are even tougher than when Hillary occupied the office of Secretary of State. Back in 2009, the Obama administration asked the Clinton Foundation to limit their foreign donations and adopt a more transparent protocol.

However, foreign companies and influent individuals with governmental ties were never stopped from continuing to contribute. According to the new statutes, the foundation agrees to disclose their donors every three months, instead of the annual practice they had before.

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