Baltimore's Mayor Blames "Thugs" Comment On Her "Anger Interpreter"

Baltimore’s Mayor Blames “Thugs” Comment On Her “Anger Interpreter”

Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is blaming Monday’s controversial comments about “thugs” destroying the city on her “anger interpreter.”

Taking a page from a routine at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in which comedian Keegan-Michael Key acted as an “anger translator” for President Obama, Baltimore’s mayor explained her remarks about the violence that broke out after peaceful protests over the Freddie Gray case.

Rawlings-Blake told Konan of WERQ-FM (which, like NewsOne, is owned by Radio One):

The overwhelming sentiment of people in this city is that we’re better than this, we don’t want our communities destroyed. We fought to get those resources in the community, we don’t want them destroyed.

I went to Mondawmin and I saw the destruction in those stores. I know that those places just recently invested to provide better service for our community, and now they’re being destroyed.

We have a lot of hurt people in our community and I was hurting too, watching it. I was talking yesterday and saying “we have thugs in our city.” Sometimes my little anger interpreter jumps in and speaks, and that really was not what was in my heart.

We have some young people in our community who hurting and are acting out. We just have to do a better job of guiding them and making sure they don’t make mistakes that are not only hurting their community, but hurting their future as well.

What do you think of her explanation? Hear more of what she told Konan at 92Q Jams.

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