While I'm not trying to excuse anything, I'll point out that no one died in the Freddie Gray riots.
Of course I'm not excusing the fact that some people did take advantage of the protests against his death in order to commit acts of property damage and looting. That was most definitely not the correct course of action. But the way the riots around Gray's death were framed--both by some in the media and by lots of people over social--it was a bloodbath all across the city lasting days committed by lawless "monsters" and "savages". I remember it well, because as someone who grew up near that area it was all over my social media feed, and that is exactly how it was portrayed at the time.
In actuality, there was essentially one to two significant days where protests spilled out into acts of property damage and looting. Not a single person died. There were only a handful of minor injuries. Those acts were mostly contained within a few block section of West Baltimore. The following day after the very worst of the riots, the people of Baltimore--both black and white--came out together to the area where the riots where and helped to clean up the damage. There were protests the rest of the week, but they were all peaceful. Rep. Elijah Cummings had a very pivotal role in ensuring that they stayed peaceful. In the end, it was an affirming moment for Baltimore after the initial chaos.
In the end, the only person who died in the entirety of the Freddie Gray situation was Freddie Gray himself.
Here, we are faced with a situation where the protest did turn deadly, solely at the hands of white supremacists. And yet my Facebook feed is oddly quiet, and I can't but help but there is a double standard at play.