Protesters hurled bricks, looted businesses and set fires in Baltimore on Monday in violence that injured at least seven police officers following the funeral of a 25-year-old black man who died after he was injured in police custody.
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, Mo, last year.
Smoke billows from a CVS Pharmacy store in Baltimore where looting had occurred earlier Monday afternoon. By evening, protests that began after a funeral for Freddie Gray had escalated, with several officers injured and the state's National Guard placed on alert. (Juliet Linderman/Associated Press)
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 cancelled and schools, businesses and train stations shut down in the city of 662,000 people 64 km from the nation's capital.
"I strongly condemn the actions of the offenders who are engaged in direct attacks against innocent civilians, businesses and law enforcement officers," Hogan tweeted shortly after 6 p.m. ET.
The riots broke out around 4:30 p.m. following the funeral for Gray, who died on April 19 from a spinal injury after being arrested and transported in police van a week before.
By 6:30 p.m. ET, several large plumes of smoke could be seen coming from the roof of the CVS Pharmacy, where earlier rioters had been seen looting goods. Several firetrucks were on the scene.
Looting could also bee seen earlier in the day at a liquor store, a cellphone store and other businesses.
Young men carry away looted items from a CVS Pharmacy in Baltimore during riots that broke out Monday afternoon after the funeral for Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old man who died from a spinal injury sustained in police custody. (Patrick Semansky/Associated Press)
Police spokesman Eric Kowalczyk said the riot began when a large group of people spread out over "a pretty significant area." Youths began pelting a city bus and passing police vehicles with stones outside the Mondawmin Mall in northwest Baltimore, just a few blocks from the site of the Gray funeral.
Some demonstrators carried signs reading "Justice 4 Freddie Gray." but many said the riots had little to do with Gray or what his family wanted.
At least one police van was set on fire during the riot. (Patrick Semansky/Associated Press)
"It is disappointing just a few hours after putting Gray to rest," said Reverend Jamal Bryant, who spoke at the funeral. "This is not what the family asked for today of all days. This was a day of sacred closure."
J.M. Giordano, photo editor for Baltimore's City Paper who was beaten by police during a Freddie Gray protest over the weekend and was out documenting Monday's events, agreed.
"The friends and family of Freddie Gray, they didn't want this kind of protest," he told CBC's Diana Swain.
Police spokesman Eric Kowalczyk said protesters attacked officers 'without provocation.' (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)
"This is really a neighbourhood, I think, lashing out. A lot of people in these neighbourhoods are fed up with lack of police investigation, police getting off the hook for things."
Police, who initially showed restraint, said seven officers had been injured in the clashes and that they were working to arrest those who "without provocation attacked our police officers."
"You're going to see tear gas, you're going to see pepper balls," Kowalczyk said at a press conference earlier in the afternoon. "We're going to use appropriate methods to ensure that we're able to preserve the safety of that community."
Newly sworn-in U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch briefed President Barack Obama on the violence in Baltimore and said the Department of Justice was ready to provide any assistance, the White House said.
It added that Obama also spoke with Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.
On its official Twitter feed, police gave regular updates of the movements of the protesters, tweeting that a group of them had damaged several police cars and set one on fire. "The group is aggressive and violent," one tweet said.
Kowalczyk described the instigators of the violence as "lawless individuals with no regard for the safety of the people that live in the community."
Gray's death has led to days of protests in the latest outcry over U.S. law enforcement's treatment of minorities.
Gray's family, pastors and city officials had pleaded for peaceful demonstrations after some arrests and injuries at protests over the weekend.
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Speaker after speaker before the crowd packing the 2,500-seat New Shiloh Baptist Church said the world was watching to see if justice would be done for Gray.
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