I was at a stoplight in front of Frederick Douglass High School and directly across from Mondawmin Mall. It was exactly 3 p.m. The mall was on lockdown. There were police helicopters flying overhead. The riot police were already at the bus stop on the other side of the mall, turning buses that transport the students away, not allowing students to board.They were waiting for the kids. As I sat at the intersection of Gwynns Falls, I saw several police cars arriving at the scene. I saw the armored police vehicle arrive. Those kids were set up, they were treated like criminals before the first brick was thrown.

Bear these facts in mind too, every day hundreds of kids leave Frederick Douglass and walk across the street and through the mall to catch the buses on the far side of the mall. Their school releases at about 2:25.

I just wish people could recognize how insane this would be if their kids were released from school to buzzing police helicopters, police in riot gear, and their child being prevented from taking transportation home. It would be a national outrage.

— Meg Gibson, a Baltimore City school teacher at Belmont Elementary School, via Facebook and Facebook chat.

[Image via Getty]