Baltimore Holds ‘Ceasefire Prayer’ As Murders On Track For Record Year

Readers may know we sometimes focus on Baltimore City because it’s one of the best examples of what happens to a failed liberal city, that is, the occasional riots, soaring violent crime, murder epidemic, opioid crisis, and large-scale wealth inequality, have created a perfect storm of chaos. 

In recent years, the streets of Baltimore have transformed into inner-city warzones. Violence flared up after the last recession, ignited even more during the 2015 riots, and with today’s virus-induced recession, the city is quickly descending further into socio-economic turmoil.  

Organizers of Ceasefire Weekend held a prayer this weekend in west Baltimore, an area ravaged by some of the highest homicides on a per-capita basis in the country. Streets in this part of town are lined with thousands of abandoned row homes, underfunded schools, opioids, and depressionary unemployment. 

Scott Slater, a member of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, told CBS Baltimore, the prayer walk on Saturday is for a murder free weekend, though two people were killed that day. 

Barbara O’Sullivan participated in the prayer walk.

“Until this stops, every one of us is a victim of gun violence,” O’Sullivan said.

Slater believes systemic racism is one of the sources of violence.   

“Stress that is systemic and endemic in our city for those who live in these conditions,” Slater said. “We need to minimize the stress and provide better resources for people, so they don’t have to make decisions to kill each other.”

The city has seen more than 300 homicides per year since 2015. Cumulative homicides trends suggest the number could top +300 by year-end. 

Gun violence is the primary reason for death. Murders are widespread.

The result of all this, as we’ve explained, a mass exodus of people, who still have economic mobility despite the virus-induced recession, are escaping to suburbs or rural communities as city-life becomes too dangerous to raise a family. 

With no end in sight, America’s metros are imploding. There has been no viable solution offered as a blueprint to fix inner cities. This is all happening at a time when the federal government and Federal Reserve exacerbate the wealth gap by bailing out corporate America and Wall Street as main street is left to die.