Doubt breeds conspiracy theories, and we live in doubtful times. Thanks to the internet, there’s more information and facts accessible to the public than ever before, but it’s often hard to sort out how precise that information is, and we’re left with troubling umbrage that the people telling us things-the government, corporations, the media itself-are lying or omitting critical pieces of background. That’s how you get common, unremitting misconceptions of the military imposing martial law in the Southwest i.e Jade Helm 15 or chemicals being covertly dumped on the population from aircraft.

So it was not unusual that last week’s unrest in Baltimore over the death of an unarmed black man, Freddie Gray, at the hands of local law enforcement let loose a avalanche of dubious claims, some more genuine than others, from people on both sides of the problem: Do our police regularly and fatally target black folks? Is there a organized plan to hide their crimes and allow them to get away with justice? Are criminals and professional agitators preparing to fire up a race war?

Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced Friday that charges are to be brought against the half a dozen law enforcement officers included in Gray’s arrest. But protesters in New York City who staged a rally against law enforcement brutality the same day appeared mostly utterly perplexed by this turn of events. Stony-eyed members of the New York City Police Department maintained a watchful eye on the cavalcade, which made its way through the East Village. Besides the now-familiar whines of “No justice, no peace” and “Shut it down,” I heard “Shoot the pigs!” and other such statements thrown at the watchful officers. It seems only one person was detained by the authorities at Friday’s assemblage, in comparison to Wednesday’s protest, which reaped a enormous140 or so arrests.

 

 

“F*** these barricades,” lamented Travis Morales of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network and Revolutionary Communist Party, as the protesters marched in Union Square with fairly little excitement. “They’re bulls***. I told [protest leaders] not to get a permit… This is what happens when people have a permit and march. They try to control it and corral it, and take the energy out of it as much as possible.”

I inquired if that suggested everyone was still pissed, even though charges have been brought against the officers in Baltimore.

“I think we have to understand that charges were brought against the killers of Amadou Diallo, and they shot him 41 times,” Morales responded, listing other deaths of unarmed men of color at the hands of police. “They shot at Sean Bell’s van over 53 times. Oscar Grant, who was murdered down in Oakland-the cop got a slap on the wrist. Our demand is indict, convict, and send the killer cops to jail because the whole damn system is guilty as hell…The role of the police is not to serve and protect the people, it’s to protect the relationship of exploitation and oppression that rule over the people.”

All the protesters I seen interviewed portrayed frustration with the justice system and a perception that cops who kill black men are methodically ignored by the law. Everyone engaged in this latest “national conversation” about race and policing appears to share that sort of anger, though in many cases it’s aimed not at the police officers but the protesters themselves. As you can imagine, this anger has transformed into conspiracy theories, some credible, some not. A short round-up:

There is an anarchist/activist social media plan to induce violence.

As outlined by a Fox News special, an anonymous “data mining” firm with government connections has revealed a social media network of anarchistic “professional protesters” accountable for fueling violence in both Ferguson and Baltimore.

The firm, which requested to stay anonymous due to the fact of its government work, discovered between 20 and 50 social media accounts in Baltimore that were also linked to the peak period of violence in Ferguson. While additional analysis is being conducted on the data, it indicates the occurrence of “professional protesters” or anarchists taking advantage of Freddie Gray’s death to provoke more violence.

The protests were orchestrated or condoned by the government to mislead from an imminent military intrusion.

Police officials announced Monday they had received a “credible threat” that rival members of the murderous Bloods, Crips and Black Guerrilla Family street gangs “have entered into a partnership to take out law enforcement officers. Photos and videos on social media showed thugs decked out in their typical blue and red gang colors wreaking havoc in the streets while demanding “Justice for Freddie.”

As civil unrest and violence over the death of a young black man continued in Baltimore this week, ISIS reportedly has its eyes set on dissatisfied Muslims among the American black population, including in Baltimore. Abu Saqer, leader of Jihadiya Salafiya, an Islamist militant group in the Gaza Strip that has made pro-ISIS statements, told WorldNetDailythat ISIS was taking advantage of a “growing movement within the black community toward Islam and the racist policies of the U.S. government.” Saqer also said he did not know if ISIS had successfully recruited black American Muslims or if any jihadist cells had been established.

“The cops are intentionally targeting people. They feel like it’s an attack on them personally.” -A protester in New York

“If there are good cops, then they need to speak out against the bad ones; just like they want people in the community to speak out against those committing crimes, they need to speak out against those committing crimes against the people,” one middle-aged man told me as he marched. “They’re required to serve and protect. It’s like the Italians call it, the Omerta. They need to break down that wall of silence. Until that happens, the people of the community and the police are never going to have a relationship.”

“We are not trying to hurt anybody, regardless of what mainstream media says,” he explained earnestly. “The protests in New York City have been nothing but peaceful… The cops are intentionally targeting people. They feel like it’s an attack on them personally.”

“Anyone who’s a part of that system is a pig. They don’t protect and serve anyone but themselves. I think anyone who isn’t angry about this isn’t paying attention.”