Coast Guard Defends Baltimore's Inner Harbor Hard Rock Cafe
BALTIMORE, Md. — Nearly 300 Coast Guard personnel mobilized from USCG Base Portsmouth, Va. early Thursday and vowed to "valiantly defend" Baltimore's Inner Harbor Hard Rock Cafe from rioters, the service said in a news release.
A fleet of Port Security and Coastal Patrol Boats received orders to surround the restaurant, each equipped with ARMA-100 Rapid-Fire Beanbag Guns and holding tanks full of pepper spray.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who has already issued a curfew for city residents and called in the National Guard, felt the move was completely unnecessary.
"There is literally nothing happening at the Hard Rock Cafe," Hogan said. "I did not call for nor do I support that decision. Things are finally calming down, so if anything this will only make people confused and angry."
At a press conference to explain the move, Coast Guard Commandant Paul Zukunft told reporters that he "fucking loves the Hard Rock," and would defend it at all costs.
"I chaperoned my son's field trip to the Baltim…
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