Let me begin by saying that I have followed @BaltoSpectator on twitter for some time now…..possibly since 2008. Most of his posts have had to do with reporting from crime scenes and giving some hard hitting commentary. In the past couple weeks tho, his posts have become increasingly aggressive, not only towards the Baltimore City Police, but to Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton and local blogger City That Breeds.

Earlier this past week, BaltoSpectator, posted that he was made aware of an open warrant. He then spent the week ‘spoofing’ his twitter location and posting aggressive  if not threatening posts towards Baltimore Police.

twitterbaltospectator

We would later find out via @Justin_Fenton that this open warrant was from June, prior to BaltoSpectators end of probation in September.

https://twitter.com/justin_fenton/status/275058015403655170

Apparently, sometime around 6 pm last night, local police came to serve the warrant on BaltoSpectator. He did not answer his door. After no response, Baltimore City Police brought the SWAT team to his location.

BaltoSpectator, who has been doing spreaker broadcasts for a short time prior to last evening, began broadcasting his ‘barricade’ situation. After a few hours of broadcasting, he made a call to 911 and requested to speak to someone who was on the scene. (The operator had no clue what to do here btw)

Police negotiator Lt. Jason Yerg contacted BaltoSpectator, and, in what can be said to be a historical broadcast, actually put the Lt on speaker phone and aired the negotiations for his surrender live over the internet.

Their discussion lasted roughly an hour and a half, with his eventual peaceful surrender occurring a little before 11 pm.

(Photo credited to: @Justingeorge)

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 The takeaway:

First and foremost, if you have a warrant, take care of it ASAP. Dont let this type of situation occur. ALWAYS answer the door for the police.

Second, Dont ‘egg’ the police on in any way. Dont post anything that can be misconstrued as a threat or any direct threats (i.e. theyll never take me alive etc)

Third, dont miss a court date.

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QUESTION

If this warrant was from June as we now know, then how did BaltoSpectator not get arrested showing up at various crime scenes within Baltimore City?

This does make this entire situation suspicious.

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Reactions

There are alot of different reactions to what happened in Baltimore last night.

The jist:

  • There is anger that resources were wasted going after a known blogger, when so-called ‘real’ criminals are walking the streets.
  • There is anger that the police didnt bust down this bloggers door sooner.
  • There are those who consider BaltoSpectator an attention whore.
  • There are the conspiracy theorists who believe he was unfairly targeted because of the corruption he speaks openly about.

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While everyone has their own opinion about the Baltimore City Police, as well as seeing aggressive take-downs filmed and posted online, you have to wonder why anyone would knowingly put themselves in the position that BaltoSpectator put himself in.

Some would think he was smart for broadcasting last night. Ya know, in order to ensure he would not be mistreated by the police. Others think he was ridiculously stupid, prolonging the inevitable arrest and possible other charges he could face.

Obviously, this is not the end of the story.