Baltimore Officer: We Were Told ‘We’re Going to Let Them Destroy Property’

“Mike,” who was identified as a Baltimore Police Officer who knows the six officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray, said that police were instructed “we’re not making any arrests, we’re going to let them destroy property” on Friday’s “Kelly File” on the Fox News Channel.

“Mike,” who went by pseudonym and had his voice and appearance disguised, heavily criticized Baltimore’s Mayor while defending the six officers charged in Gray’s death.

He also said, “we were given specific instructions, don’t arrest anybody, don’t, you know, if they spit at you, if they’re doing things to you, you know, you need to be pulled off the line, if you’re going to lose your cool, but, we’re not making any arrests, we’re going to let them destroy property, we’re going to let them, you know, do these…in a sense, minor crimes, and we’re not going to do anything.”

“Mike” added that those orders came from, “whoever had roll call at the time, which was most likely, at the time, it was a Lieutenant Colonel or above. So, it was a higher-ranking official. In the previous — the first set of protests, I didn’t. But, you know, when this one started happening, you know, the localized event on Freddie Gray that happened in Baltimore, it was outrageous, you know, things being thrown at officers, all these officers were getting injured, but they didn’t want us to do anything. And the department was extremely unprepared.”

He concluded, “we all felt like we were being rag dolls at that point…I remember specifically, I don’t recall what day it was, whether it was Saturday, or Monday, but I remember Commissioner Batts specifically briefing us on it, and it was — it was something, you know, I’m sorry, let’s face it, we were in the midst of a riot and he’s worried about appearance in a sense. He was telling officers to, you know, take off their black gloves, take off this, because we look too aggressive.”

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