Well, I can only relate to this from my own perspective. In my own home town, there were massive protests over closing of a local coal mine, just last year. The problem is, that in my opinion miners are already the most privileged group of workers in the whole country - they are paid well above the average, they get to retire after only 15 years of work, they are all unionized and impossible to fire no matter what they do, they pay themselves huge bonuses 3 times a year, and closing the mine would result in them getting a years-worth of salary as a severance pay.

That's all despite the fact that our local coal mine has been bleeding money for years. There was no profit shown for almost a decade, they have resisted any plans for reforms or plans to sell the mine to private investors. Not to even mention that the management was hugely corrupt, consisting of family of family and friends of friends, where you could get a great position just by knowing the right people.

When it has finally reached the point where the mine could not possibly operate any further and had to be closed down, hundreds of those miners went on the streets, blocking traffic, burning tires, destroying local shops and tipping cars. As someone who lives in the same city - I cannot possibly sympathize with those people. They behaved like the worst mob, holding everyone else hostage just so they could remain in their comfy job with huge benefits.

I do understand that Baltimore is not the same. Not even remotely. But rioters who destroy other people's property are not gaining themselves any favours.