Will Cleveland riot if a police officer is found not guilty? - Washington Post
Even the Cleveland Cavaliers are marching toward the NBA finals. “And it can’t afford to be burnt up. ”. As early as Friday, a Cuyahoga County judge is expected to deliver a verdict in the case of Michael Brelo, a Cleveland police officer who took part in a massive police chase in 2012 and helped pump 137... Now, less than a month after neighborhoods in Baltimore burned and less than a year after Ferguson, Mo. , exploded, Cleveland officials fear an acquittal in the Brelo case could touch off the same kind of violence. “Those of us vested in Cleveland’s success should not follow the pattern and practices of those outside instigators who looted, destroyed businesses and [committed] other crimes that ruined inner-city neighborhoods in Ferguson and Baltimore,” said... Community leaders “are feverishly working together to eliminate police misconduct in Cleveland,” he said, adding, “We are much better positioned than Ferguson or Baltimore. The Brelo shooting is known locally as “137 shots” — which, Clevelanders note, is nearly as many bullets as were fired in the law enforcement ambush that killed robbers Bonnie and Clyde in 1934 in Louisiana. Source: www.washingtonpost.com
