Police from neighboring towns and even other states have flocked to Baltimore to help the city's police get rioting and protesting under control.
However, police were told to stand down and not confront rioters, which angered many, including one sheriff from a surrounding county in Maryland. Michael Lewis, who was once a Sergeant with the Maryland State Police, was shocked, he told Baltimore radio station 105.7 The Fan.
"I was sick to my stomach like everybody else. ... This was urban warfare, no question about it. They were coming in absolutely beaten down. The [city officers] got out of their vehicles, thanked us profusely for being there, apologized to us for having to be there," Lewis explained. "They said 'we could have handled this, we were very capable of handling this, but we were told to stand down, repeatedly told to stand down.'
"... and these guys told me they were essentially neutered from the start. They were spayed from the start. They were told to stand down, you will not take any action, let them destroy property."
Lewis told the radio station that he had never been told to stand down in his decades of experience in law enforcement. He believes that police in Baltimore, and everywhere, are "very capable" of handling the current situation in the city if given the full opportunity.
"'Stand down, stand down, stand down! Back up, back up, retreat, retreat!' I couldn't believe those words," Lewis said. "Those are words I've never heard in my law enforcement vocabulary. Baltimore City police, all law enforcement agencies are very capable of handling that city. They're trained to handle that city."
Lewis had not intended to go to Baltimore but felt obligated to after seeing footage of the riots over the weekend.
"I hadn't planned to go to Baltimore at all," he said. I watched the events unfold Saturday night like we all did, and was very concerned about what I saw, and the the lack of response Saturday night. I immediately rallied up the troops."
The complete interview Lewis gave to 105.7 The Fan can be heard below.
