It's a war zone out there. They're destroying the city.
Krauss is explaining what is happening in Detroit that day. A formerly peaceful protest has turned violent and now rioting has taken the place of protesting. The city is being destroyed by rioters who are setting fire to city buildings and businesses, and there are fires wherever one looks. There is also violent looting, with protesters breaking windows and taking whatever they want from the store. It is extremely dangerous for the citizens of Detroit as he is speaking.
You think we're bluffing? We don't bluff!
When shots are heard coming from the Algiers, and a flash is seen at the motel window, police and National Guardsmen rush to the motel to try to find the sniper before he can do any more damage. At the time they do not realize that the weapon belongs to Cooper, essentially a stupid kid with a gun full of blanks. They believe the threat of sniper fire is real and has to be dealt with as quickly as possible.
Krauss demands to know where the gun is, and who the gunman was. At first, he implies that once they know this information everyone will be free to leave if they were not involved in the shooting.The problem is, nobody tells him that the shots they heard were not sniper fire. The wall of silence he encounters makes him increasingly angry, and he begins to lose control of himself. He has made threats whilst at the motel and is determined to act on them. He wants the assembled guests to understand that they are promises, not threats, and that he is not bluffing, because the police department and the National Guard do not bluff when it comes to matters of snipers and national safety.
Here in Detroit, a city of war, the violence continues. On the city's west side, a 150-block area is off limits to everybody. US Army paratroopers, National Guardsmen, state and local police are continuing the fight against a handful of snipers.
The television announcer's commentary is interesting because it shows the media's tendency to completely exaggerate certain elements of what is going on. This is especially baffling in a situation such as a riot of this magnitude because it would not seem that anything about the riots needs exaggeration - things are bad enough when represented correctly. However, one shot from Cooper's gun has quickly become fire from several snipers, terrifying an already terrified city even more than necessary.
