Baltimore Quiet During Curfew; Freddie Gray Protests In New York, Ferguson, Elsewhere

Maryland National Guard vehicles are seen along Pennsylvania Avenue in Baltimore April 29, 2015, two days after it was looted and set ablaze. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

Police officers in Baltimore used bullhorns to announce the start of the curfew Wednesday night, 48 hours after riots broke out in response to the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African-American who died from injuries sustained while in police custody. Officers in riot gear gathered near the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and North Avenue, but by 10 p.m., reporters outnumbered protesters.

Police are lined like this at every intersection. #BaltimoreUprising pic.twitter.com/iVqDi284gX
— deray mckesson (@deray) April 30, 2015

There are a handful of non media here. Spread out and hard to count, but maybe a dozen? Helicopter asks media to separate from citizens.
— Matt Zapotosky (@mattzap) April 30, 2015

From the vantage point of the officers, this is the scene pic.twitter.com/S94eoy8LUg
— Albert Samaha (@AlbertSamaha) April 30, 2015

Right before the curfew took effect, there was a brief scuffle at the intersection. Congressman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., walked around the area with state Sen. Catherine Pugh, telling people to go home. Under the emergency curfew, all Baltimore residents are supposed to be in their houses from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. nightly.

Congressman Elijah Cummings, "This is all media, you're all taking pictures of each other." #BaltimoreUprising
— Joshua Scott Albert (@jpegjoshua) April 30, 2015

Cummings and Pugh begin singing "We Shall Overcome" #BaltimoreUprising https://t.co/jIzgWTn9r9
— deray mckesson (@deray) April 30, 2015

After that, reporters tweeted only that a drone flew overhead, and authorities put out a fire about two blocks away.

The scene Tuesday night had been much different, with police officers using pepper balls and tear gas to control protesters who had stayed out after hours. On Monday, before Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake set the curfew, police arrested more than 235 people.

#CURFEW violator carried off by Jersey PD. In #baltimore. #Baltimoreuprising #FreddieGray @baynardwoods pic.twitter.com/3GUSP78L8F
— J. M. Giordano photo (@jmgpix) April 30, 2015

Other ppl around, but last protester it seems: Shawna Eaton, 47 — Randallstown. "I'm out here cause y'all out here." pic.twitter.com/pdIgFMrDzw
— Colin Campbell (@cmcampbell6) April 30, 2015

Shortly before curfew started Wednesday, the Washington Post reported that a prisoner who rode in the van police used to transport Gray told investigators Gray "was intentionally trying to injure himself." Gray was arrested April 12 on a weapons charge and died from a spinal injury April 19. Baltimore police and the Department of Justice are looking into the incident.

Though Baltimore was quiet, protests elsewhere heated up Wednesday night. Nearly 500 people marched to the White House in Washington, D.C., to call for a stop to police brutality. In New York City, thousands of activists blocked the streets and at least 60 were arrested. Ferguson, Missouri, where a white police officer fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown last year, saw protesters vandalize police cars, light fires and loot a gas station, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Unrest In Baltimore

Join the Discussion