Baltimore: As the situation in Baltimore worsened after the funeral of Freddie Gray, who died in police custody, the Mayor imposed curfew in the city and National Guard troops were deployed to tackle the violent riots and looting.
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake imposed a weeklong curfew in the city as rioters looted stores, set fire to cars, destroyed properties and hurled objects at police.
A general curfew will be in effect in Baltimore City from 10pm April 28th - 5am May 4th unless renewed or rescinded by order of the Mayor.
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) April 28, 2015
Maryland's Governor Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency and called in the National Guard to restore order but authorities were still struggling to quell pockets of unrest after midnight.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts disclosed at a late-night news conference that National Guard troops have begun taking up positions "on the ground."
He said the guardsmen are key to holding areas that have been cleared of rioters by police moving through those areas hit by unrest.
Batts also said at least 15 officers have been injured, six seriously whom he visited at the city's major trauma hospital. "I told them how proud I was of them and how courageous they were," Batt said.
The fires and riots erupted hours after the funeral for Freddie Gray, the black man who died from a spinal injury days after being taken into police custody.
Officers wearing helmets and wielding shields occasionally used pepper spray to keep the rioters back. For the most part, though, they relied on line formations to keep protesters at bay.
Monday's riot was the latest flare-up over the mysterious death of Freddie Gray, whose fatal encounter with officers came amid the national debate over police use of force, especially when black suspects are involved. Gray was African-American. Police have declined to specify the races of the six officers involved in his arrest, all of whom have been suspended with pay while they are uut Gray's family said violence is not a way to honor him.
"I think the violence is wrong," Grays twin sister, Fredericka Gray, said late Monday. "I don't like it at all."
The FBI and Justice Department are investigating Gray's death for potential criminal civil rights violations.
Many who had never met Gray gathered earlier in the day in a Baltimore church to bid him farewell and press for more accountability among law enforcement.
The 2,500-capacity New Shiloh Baptist church was filled with mourners. But even the funeral could not ease mounting tensions.
Police said in a news release sent while the funeral was underway that the department had received a "credible threat" that three notoriously violent gangs are now working together to "take out" law enforcement officers.
Gray was arrested on April 12 after making eye contact with officers and then running away, police said. He was held down, handcuffed and loaded into a van without a seat belt. Leg cuffs were put on him when he became irate inside.
With Agency Inputs
