奧巴馬錶示巴爾的摩騷亂是發酵的危機

President Barack Obama lamented America’s “slow-rolling crisis”, as National Guard troops were positioned across Baltimore and residents cleaned up after the worst rioting in the port city since the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King.

美國總統巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)感嘆美國“緩慢發酵的危機”。在巴爾的摩發生自1968年馬丁•路德•金(Martin Luther King)遇刺以來最嚴重的騷亂之後，國民警衛隊(National Guard)官兵被部署到這個港口城市的街頭巷尾，市民們開始清理。

In the aftermath of the Monday night violence that followed the funeral of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died in police custody from as yet unexplained spinal injuries, the president called for reform and the retraining of police departments. He also advocated a broader push to bring opportunities to deprived communities through education, job training and infrastructure investment.

25歲的黑人弗雷迪•格雷(Freddie Gray)在被警方羈押期間，由於至今無法解釋的脊椎損傷而喪生。週一晚上，在他的葬禮之後，巴爾的摩爆發了嚴重暴力活動。事件發生後，奧巴馬呼籲改革美國各地的警察局，並對其進行重新訓練。他還倡議發起整體努力，通過教育、就業培訓和基礎設施投資爲貧困社區帶來更多機遇。

“This is a slow-rolling crisis that has been going on for some time. This is not new,” he said at a White House press conference yesterday.

在昨日白宮舉行的記者會上，奧巴馬錶示：“這是一場已持續一段時間的緩慢發酵的危機，不是什麼新情況。”

“Since Ferguson, we have seen too many instances of what appears to be police officers interfering with individuals, often African Americans and poor. It comes up almost once a week,” the president said, referring to the conflagration in the Missouri City after the police shooting of a black teenager.

奧巴馬提到密蘇里州弗格森市警方射殺一名黑人少年後引發的激烈抗議。他說：“自弗格森事件以來，我們已看到太多似乎是警方妨礙個人的案子，而這些個人往往是非裔美國人和窮人。這種事幾乎每週都會發生。”

He said that the riots had been the work of a “handful of criminals and thugs” and that they “need to be treated as criminals”. As police helicopters flew overhead, volunteers carrying cleaning equipment were joined by residents from across the city who wanted to help the western district of Mondawmin to recover from the violence that erupted there on Monday.

他說，騷亂是“少數犯罪分子和暴徒”挑起的，這些人“需要被當作犯罪分子對待”。在巴爾的摩，警方的直升機在空中盤旋之際，市民們加入了攜帶清潔器材的志願者的行列，大家都希望幫助該市西部蒙道敏區(Mondawmin)從週一爆發的暴力活動中恢復過來。

“I cried all day yesterday,” said Cynthia Swann, who had come with her sister to lend support.

與姐妹一道來提供支持的辛西婭•斯旺(Cynthia Swann)表示：“昨天我哭了一整天。”

Ms Swann stressed she did not condone the violence, but added that rioters were venting a frustration that was felt by the whole community because of what she described as frequent abusive treatment by the local police.

斯旺女士強調，她並不寬容暴力行爲。但她補充說，騷亂分子所發泄的不滿情緒，整個社區都能感覺到，其原因是她所稱的當地警方頻繁的苛待。

Since the death of Mr Gray, six police officers have been suspended and the justice department is investigating. “The western district police have had their feet on this community for years,” said Ms Swann, adding that tensions were exacerbated by high unemployment.

格雷死後，6名警員已被停職，司法部正展開調查。斯旺表示：“多年來，西區警察一直把這個社區踩在腳下。”她還補充說，居高不下的失業率加劇了緊張局面。

The Justice Policy Institute think-tank said 45 per cent of the working age population in Mondawmin did not have jobs. Meanwhile, chronic high school truancy runs at about 33 per cent.

智庫——司法政策研究所(Justice Policy Institute)表示，蒙道敏區45%的勞動年齡人口沒有工作。同時，長期高企的高中逃課率目前爲33%左右。

“They are going to keep going until they get justice,” said Nathaniel Edwards, 29, who had known Gray since they were children.

現年29歲、從小認識格雷的納撒尼爾•愛德華茲(Nathaniel Edwards)表示：“他們會堅持到正義得到伸張爲止。”

A state of emergency has been declared and Larry Hogan, governor, said 5,000 National Guard troops and another 5,000 police from other states had been called to Baltimore.

馬裏蘭州已宣佈進入緊急狀態。州長拉里•霍根(Larry Hogan)表示，5000名國民警衛隊官兵及另外5000名來自其他州的警察已被調往巴爾的摩。