Baltimore Sun Floats Theory That ‘Purge’ Movie Fueling Violence

Baltimore police officers push back demonstrators who are throwing rocks at the police, after the funeral of Freddie Gray, Monday, April 27, 2015, at New Shiloh Baptist Church in Baltimore. Gray died from spinal inju... Baltimore police officers push back demonstrators who are throwing rocks at the police, after the funeral of Freddie Gray, Monday, April 27, 2015, at New Shiloh Baptist Church in Baltimore. Gray died from spinal injuries about a week after he was arrested and transported in a Baltimore Police Department van. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) MORE LESS
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The Baltimore Sun on Monday reported that “juveniles” who were clashing with police in Baltimore were doing it to recreate a “purge.”

The newspaper said it was a reference to a 2013 movie, “The Purge.” Starring Ethan Hawke, the movie depicted a society in which, for 12 hours every year, all crime was legal and emergency services were suspended.

From the Sun:

According to a widely circulated flier, a high school “purge” was to take place at 3 p.m., starting at Mondawmin Mall and ending downtown. Such memes have been known to circulate regularly among city school students, based on a film “The Purge,” about what would happen if all laws were suspended.

The flier included an image of protesters smashing the windshield of a police car Saturday during a march spurred by the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old man who suffered a spinal cord injury earlier this month after being arrested by city police.

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  1. Wow…this is original. This is like claiming that Ragtime was leading to loose morals, D&D was leading to more instances of Satanism, and how Heavy Metal was leading to Devil Worship! Rather than looking at the real cause why don’t we all look for a scapegoat. That way we can smack it against the castle wall until it sticks!

  2. “The flier included an image of protesters smashing the windshield of a police car Saturday during a march spurred by the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old man who suffered a spinal cord injury earlier this month after being arrested by city police.”

    Sorry, but that’s deliberately written to make it seem like all that happened was the spinal cord injury. snip snip snip…

    “…Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old man who suffered DEATH earlier this month after being arrested by city police.”

    FIFY

  3. Great, so now I suppose the taxpayers of Baltimore have to fly goddamn Ethan Hawke in to save the day? Geez…

  4. And watching Reefer Madness is making them all ‘take pot’ and bang frantically on pianos.

  5. Maybe it was a reference to a gathering of bulimics at a buffet?

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