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