April 29--REPORTING FROM BALTIMORE -- Baltimore remained peaceful Wednesday afternoon as this riot-scarred city lurched tentatively toward normality, as nonviolent marches streamed through heavily policed streets and the Orioles completed a baseball game in an empty stadium.
No arrests or violence connected to the ongoing protests in Baltimore have been reported thus far Wednesday, a Baltimore police spokesman said, as authorities worked to file charges against hundreds of people arrested Monday who could be released as a 48-hour detention limit approaches.
However, protests were expected Wednesday evening over the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who suffered a partially severed spine and a crushed voice box while in police custody.
Potentially hundreds of high school students were expected to begin marching from Penn Station to City Hall at 5:45 p.m., according to protest organizers.
The community will be watching closely as police plan to turn the case over to the state attorney's office Friday, though further details about Gray's mysterious injuries may not be released.
"What we are going to do, which is unique, is turn over all of our findings, all our investigative efforts, to the state's attorney's office," Baltimore Police Capt. Eric Kowalczyk said Wednesday afternoon at a news conference.
"We know there are a lot of people who want to have answers," Kowalczyk said. "We cannot release all the information from this investigation to the public."
He said earlier in the day that investigators had not been hampered by the unrest in the city.
On Tuesday night, a crowd of defiant protesters briefly clashed with riot police in the west side of Baltimore when the weeklong overnight curfew began at 10 p.m. Thirty-five people were arrested, most charged with violating curfew, Kowalczyk said. That was in addition to 235 arrests after Monday's rioting that began after Gray's funeral.
Otherwise, the curfew took hold and seemed to break city's fevered response to Gray's death.
"Tonight I think the biggest thing is the citizens are safe, the city is stable," Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said shortly before midnight Tuesday as he declared the curfew a success. "We hope to maintain it that way."
The curfew ended at 5 a.m. Wednesday and the city attempted to return to its pre-riot routines. Traffic resumed, but against a heavy show of National Guard troops, city police and law enforcement officers from surrounding cities.
School buses were among the earliest vehicles on the roads. Like much of the city, schools were shuttered Tuesday. Educators said they were planning special programs.
"Principals and teachers are planning activities that will help students learn from the past days' events. Counselors, social workers and psychologists will be on hand to support students' emotional needs," the district's executive officer, Gregory E. Thornton, said in a letter to parents.
Members of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra upped the civility quotient and gathered outside the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, about 1.5 miles from the worst of the riot-scarred areas to give a free concert "in support of our community."
The orchestra had postponed a children's concert and a lecture that were scheduled for Tuesday, citing "safety concerns" after Monday night's rioting.
The musicians donated their services and invited "friends, BSO family and all who love the great City of Baltimore" to the event.
At North and Pennsylvania avenues, one of the centers of unrest, traffic moved as usual and residents went about their business as police in riot gear stood on each of the four corners.
"Things need to get back to normal," said one police officer, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the situation. "That's what's starting to happen."
About half a mile away the Mondawmin Mall, where rioters looted thousands of dollars' worth of merchandise on Monday, remained closed due to extensive damage during the unrest. Maryland National Guardsmen watched over each of the entrances.
However, the Shoppers Food and Pharmacy, which shares a parking lot with the mall, was open for business. And across the street, students entered Frederick Douglass High School.
"It's good to move past all this," said Robert Johnson, 50, who works at Shoppers. "There's enough confusion in the world. We don't need this madness."
In a brisk Wednesday afternoon game, the Orioles crushed the White Sox 8-2 in a game at Camden Yards closed to the public for safety reasons.
Reporters attending the game saw bizarre scenes like a home run that raced out of the park without any cheers and a player playfully chucking a baseball, at the end of an inning, into a sea of empty seats.
Otherwise, the historic move -- thought to be the first game in baseball history played in front of an audience of zero paying fans -- seems to have paid off. No incidents were reported at the park.
Kowalczyk, the police spokesman, said more than 100 people who were arrested during Monday's unrest had yet to be formally charged.
The department has struggled to corral the arresting officers and get them to file the proper charging documents. Kowalczyk noted how officers had to keep scrambling in response to emergencies and demonstrations throughout the city.
Suspects who were arrested Monday will be released and charged at a later date if police cannot complete the charging process by Wednesday night, he said.
More than 3,000 officers and National Guard troops enforced the curfew, which got off to a slow start late Tuesday night when about 200 protesters ignored police warnings and the pleas of community activists to disperse. Some threw objects or lay on the ground.
A line of police behind riot shields hurled tear gas canisters and fired pepper balls, slowly pushing back the crowd. Demonstrators picked up the canisters and hurled them back at officers. But the crowd rapidly dispersed and was down to just a few dozen people within minutes.
More than 20 police officers have been injured this week, officials said. But by Tuesday afternoon, nearly all had been treated and released at area hospitals, Batts said.
On Tuesday, Gov. Larry Hogan and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake worked to calm the city, which has been in turmoil since Gray died April 19, a week after he was arrested in West Baltimore, which became the epicenter of the riots and looting.
Gray's spine was severed, but it remains unknown how and when that occurred. Video has shown Gray being arrested and his hands cuffed behind his back when he is placed in the van. The van made at least two stops and at one, Gray is seen on video being taken out of the van. His legs are placed in irons and he is returned to the wagon.
Officials are still investigating the events, but police have acknowledged that Gray should have been buckled into a seat belt as he was transported and that he should have received early medical care.
Gray's death touched off protests last week that increased in intensity through the weekend and finally into Monday night's violence.
Bierman and Hennigan reported from Baltimore, Pearce from Los Angeles. Times staff writers Michael Muskal and James Queally contributed to this report from Los Angeles.
UPDATES
4 p.m.: This story was updated with new details throughout.
12:08 p.m.: This story was updated with details of arrests overnight, and with the Orioles baseball game being played in a stadium with fans in attendance.
9:36 a.m.: This story was updated with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra outdoor concert.
This story was first published at 7:14 p.m.
