Maryland Governor Declares State of Emergency Over Baltimore Violence (Photos)

 

 

To all my Marylanders in Baltimore please keep safe.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard to address the violence in Baltimore, his office said on Monday.

The governor's office said the actions came at the request of the city of Baltimore. It added that Hogan would hold a news conference at 8:30 p.m. to discuss the violence following the funeral of a 25-year-old black man who died after he was injured in police custody. 

Protesters hurled bricks, looted businesses and set fires in Baltimore on Monday in violence that injured at least seven police officers.

The riots broke out just a few blocks from the funeral of Freddie Gray and then spread through parts of Baltimore in the most violent U.S. demonstrations since looting in Ferguson, Missouri, last year.

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A CVS pharmacy that had been looted was on fire on Monday evening as police moved into an area where rioters sacked businesses and destroyed vehicles.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan put the state's National Guard on alert and additional state troopers were sent to Baltimore. An Orioles baseball game was canceled and schools, businesses and train stations shut down in the city of 662,000 people 40 miles (64 km) from the nation's capital.

Gray's death on April 19 reignited a public outcry over police treatment of African Americans that flared last year after the killings of unarmed black men in Ferguson, New York City and elsewhere.

A string of deadly confrontations between mostly white police and black men, and the violence it has prompted, will be among the challenges facing U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who was sworn in on Monday.

Following her swearing in, Lynch signaled that improving relations between police and the communities they protect will be high on her agenda.

"We can restore trust and faith both in our laws and in those of us who enforce them," she said.

Baltimore police initially showed restraint on Monday but then began arresting people and prepared to use teargas and pepper spray.

"It is disappointing just a few hours after putting Gray to rest," Reverend Jamal Bryant who spoke at the funeral told reporters. "This is not what the family asked for today of all days. This was a day of sacred closure."

Bryant said pastors and other community leaders were going to the scene to try to calm riots and prevent looting.

 

 

 

Credit:Reuters