I discussed the riots with a current officer in a WNY police department who interviewed for a position with the Baltimore police department before he was hired for his current job. He was appalled by the attitudes of the Baltimore police he met and how they treated people in general but especially poor people, most of whom tend to be black in Baltimore, who were suspected of crimes. IHO, the rioters might have seen police actions as racist since the trigger was the death of a black man but brutality against persons in custody had little to do with race and everything to do with police attitudes.