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Oliver Laughland and Paul Farrell with Paul Lewis, Ben Jacobs and Jon Swaine in Baltimore

Baltimore riots: looting, fires and unrest as Freddie Gray police clashes unfurl – as it happened

Police stand guard after rioters protesting and rioting caused chaos in Baltimore.
Police stand guard after rioters protesting and rioting caused chaos in Baltimore. ‘We want justice,’ a local resident told the Guardian. ‘How are we going to get any with the city burning down?’ Photograph: Matt Rourke/AP

We’re going to be wrapping up our rolling coverage of the unrest in Baltimore for the moment. Here’s a summary of events as they stand so far:

woman reported to be shot in leg, say Baltimore Police

The Baltimore Police has just tweeted an update about a report of a shooting at Fulton Avenue. At this stage we have limited information beyond this update from the police.

Here’s the second part of the press conference from police commissioner Anthony Batts:

After that we began to have trouble at Lexington Market. We responded with approximately about 50 officers…where we secured that and didn’t sustain much damage. We then got calls laters off of the 1700 block of Monument that we had looting there. We responded multiple units over there to sustain that area. We’re seeing a number of small care fires. We’re seeing a number of street fires basically in Pennsylvania Fulton area again, which has been the cornerstone of the problem the vast majority of the day.

Those are the key points I think, we’re still getting control of the Pennsy area, Mondawmin Mall has been secured. We did have break ins there we responded officers up there. We have a number of arrests that came out of there. So we have most of the officers that were in the hospital that are doing better. I think for the vast majority the city is calming itself down slowly but surely, other than the car fires and the street fires.

When I came down I think there was reported a fire in the 1700 block of monument. Suffice it to say I am extremely disappointed in what ha happened in this beautiful city tonight. I am disappointed in the fact that the damage has been done to these communities. I’m disappointed that we could not be more responsible and an embarrassment that we have nationwide in our community. This is not protesting. This is not your first amendments rights. This is just criminal acts doing damage to a community that is challenged in some ways that do not need this and do not need to harmed in the way that we have today.

I am proud of the officers who were out there sustaining rocks and bottles, who were hit in the head, who were sent to the hospital and their courage at standing tall in light of all the things. I applaud the outside agencies that came to support us. Montgomery county, Prince Georges county, Howard county and state police. So I sincerely appreciate that support.

My colleague Ben Jacobs has just been on another loop of the city. He is reporting there are still building on fire.

Here’s the full video of the press conference that Baltimore police commissioner Anthony Batts gave earlier this evening.

The conference is a quite detailed breakdown of the police operations that occurred throughout the evening. We’ve started to transcribe the full conference, here is the first part that outlines the initial unrest that occurred at Mondawmin Mall:

The officers got caught on an incline to which a number of my officers got injured. I had one officer knocked out, hit on the head, he was taken to the hospital. I just checked on him, he’s doing better. I had an officer who had on his left kneecap severely damaged. They’re again at shock trauma. I had two more officers downed injured fairly seriously. All are going to be ok but sustained heavy damage in their bodies by flying debris, rocks, sticks, bottles, anything that these, what appeared to be high school students in our school system did out there within the streets.

As our officers preceded to push them out of that area they moved out of the area …where them and others attacked a police car, broke out the window, stomped on it, I think you have information on that. Very concerned that I had an officer trapped in that vehicle. The officer had removed themselves and had sheltered in place in a nearby store. We were able to get resources down there to push that crowd away from that area. They ended up south …in North Street and you can see that they started to ransack CVS in criminal acts of vandalism and taking of property.

We were able to assemble resources from out of town to get up there in a rapid manner. We took that corner back as we sustained Mondawmin Mall and made sure that it was stable. We were able to move those resource down to Pennsy from a northern direction moving southward. We then brought other resources that moved from the south northward to Pennsy and we took that intersection back.

We started to push in a westbound direction as we saw more looting taking place just west of that area. As we moved a large contingent by that time we had pretty close to about 500 to 600 police officers moving in that direction.

I was very much pleased and surprised that we had ministers that came out with congressman Elijah Cummings, tried to calm the area and calm the young people in that area that was just totally destroying the places where they have to live. And tomorrow they have to go to those same stores that they tore apart. And those stores that were burnt down or damaged are the same infrastructure that the people have to survive with in that neighbourhood in the next month, next two months, next three months.

Data will be crucial to explain what has happened in Baltimore over the weekend. One useful source that may prove useful is the Baltimore Police’s open data centre.

This resource is updated every Thursday, and has separate datasets for incidents, uses of force, juvenile curfew violations and arrests. Once the datasets are posted on Thursday it will be possible to gain an extremely comprehensive picture of reported incidents.

The data about curfews may prove to be particularly useful - but unfortunately at the moment this dataset does not appear to be available.

The Washington Post has posted this useful map that outlines where unrest has occurred across Baltimore.

It gives a some clearer indication of the spread of incidents around Baltimore, which have occurred across the city.

The scope of the unrest in Baltimore is unlikely to be fully realised until tomorrow morning. There are continuing reports of scattered pockets of unrest throughout the city.

These images highlight how events escalated throughout the evening:

baltimore protests
A protester with a stolen police vest taunts Baltimore police officers on Pennsylvania Avenue during riots on Monday, April 27, 2015, in Baltimore. Photograph: TNS/Landov / Barcroft Media
Demonstrators took over the streets.
Demonstrators took over the streets. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Patrol cars were torched.
Patrol cars were torched. Photograph: TNS/Landov / Barcroft Media
Looting and rioting broke out at North and Pennsylvania Avenues where a CVS was set on fire.
Looting and rioting broke out at North and Pennsylvania Avenues where a CVS was set on fire. Photograph: TNS/Landov / Barcroft Media
Armoured police tried to regain control. Maryland governor Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard to address the escalating violence.
Armoured police tried to regain control. Maryland governor Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard to address the escalating violence. Photograph: News Agency/REX Shutterstock/News Agency/REX Shutterstock
Baltimore firefighters and police had their work cut out throughout the night as a consequence of the events.
Baltimore firefighters and police had their work cut out throughout the night as a consequence of the events. Photograph: Jim Bourg/REUTERS

Updated

Earlier my colleague Ben Jacobs posted about some concerning comments he received from a Baltimore fire fighter about the limited resources they had to combat the scattered fires throughout the city.

The ability of the fire brigade to respond effectively has also been a concern for the Baltimore Police. They’ve just posted several updates about needing to deploy their officers with fire fighters to prevent disruption of their operations.

The Maryland National Guard has just posted this update on the movement of its troops into Baltimore.

Governor Larry Hogan activated the national guard earlier on Monday to help contain unrest in the city.

My colleague Ben Jacobs has just been speaking with a fire fighter on the streets of Baltimore. He’s been hearing some alarming responses about the resources that the fire department currently has.

Some parallels are being drawn with the unrest in Baltimore this weekend and the 1968 riots.

Here’s a short dispatch from the Baltimore Sun that looks back at events in 1968.

There is an eerie prescience in this article, which refers to many of the same landmarks or streets that we have unrest occur near this weekend:

THE 1968 riots rank with the 1904 fire that wiped out much of the downtown business district and the state legislature’s 1947 vote to prevent the city from annexing additional land as major events that changed the course of history for Baltimore this century.

In the early hours, the unrest didn’t seem like a momentous event. The city was relatively quiet after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis on the evening of #F Thursday, April 4. But by April 6, sporadic, isolated incidents had gained momentum. Teeming crowds gathered on Gay Street in East Baltimore and began breaking store windows and looting. By 6:45 that evening, then-Gov. Spiro T. Agnew had called out the National Guard.

Hundreds of city and state police officers were deployed to limit destruction in East and West Baltimore. Many merchants decried the lack of police protection for businesses. The sky was blackened with the smoke of 800 fires in 72 hours.

The toll was steep: six people were killed, 700 were injured, 1,000 small businesses were looted or burned out and 5,800 people were arrested. Nearly 3,500 cases were tried in city courts.

Baltimore has since moved forward, forming multiracial coalitions address the city’s ills, including the needs of the poor. Post-riot urban renewal efforts added some much-needed schools and recreational facilities.

But much remains to be done. Major corridors, such as Gay Street and North Avenue, and parts of Harford Road, Pennsylvania Avenue and Park Heights Avenue, still show scars from the riots. Some three decades later, the memories of that violent time remain clear for many people. Below are some recollections.

Baltimore Police have just posted this update about a report of a fire near Mount Street.

There have been many images this evening of police in armoured vehicles, employing tactics that could be considered to be highly militarised.

The use of armoured vehicles and military tools in civil disturbances is an issue that has become increasingly prominent in the United States, particularly over the last 12 months.

This earlier story on an Australian Civil Liberties Union report highlights how the issue has been canvassed previously:

At 3am on 28 May, Alecia Phonesavanh was asleep in the room she was temporarily occupying together with her husband and four children in the small town of Cornelia, Georgia. Her baby, 18-month-old Bou Bou, was sleeping peacefully in his cot.

Suddenly there was a loud bang and several strangers dressed in black burst into the room. A blinding flash burst out with a deafening roar from the direction of the cot. Amid the confusion, Phonesavanh could see her husband pinned down and handcuffed under one of the men in black, and while her son was being held by another. Everyone was yelling, screaming, crying. “I kept asking the officers to let me have my baby, but they said shut up and sit down,” she said.

As the pandemonium died down, it became clear that the strangers in black were a Swat team of police officers from the local Habersham County force – they had raided the house on the incorrect assumption that occupants were involved in drugs. It also became clear to Phonesavanh that something had happened to Bou Bou and that the officers had taken him away.

The Swat team that burst into the Phonesavanh’s room looking for a drug dealer had deployed a tactic commonly used by the US military in warzones, and increasingly by domestic police forces across the US. They threw an explosive device called a flashbang that is designed to distract and temporarily blind suspects to allow officers to overpower and detain them. The device had landed in Bou Bou’s cot and detonated in the baby’s face.

My colleague Ben Jacobs is still out in Baltimore, and has been tweeting some updates of what he’s seeing.

Updated

Police commissioner Anthony Batts, who just delivered a short update on events in Baltimore, praised his officers’ response to earlier protests on Saturday. Here’s the Baltimore Sun’s report on the earlier email he sent to officers:

In an internal email to police officers, Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Battspraised his department’s response to protests in the city on Saturday as “scary good.”

“In more than 30 years of law enforcement experience, I’ve been involved in many protests. Today, the restraint, professionalism, and attention to duty you demonstrated were nothing short of remarkable,” Batts wrote in an email obtained by The Baltimore Sun. “I am proud and truly humbled to lead this organization. You stood tall in the face of challenge after challenge and you were a credit to the city and your families today.”

For some further background on the genesis of events that are now occurring in Baltimore, my colleague Oliver Laughland has this dispatch from Saturday on the death of Freddie Gray:

“If I’d been dropped two inches to the left, then Freddie Gray was me,” says Abdul Salaam. The 36-year-old mental health executive from north-east Baltimore unbuttons his collar to show deep, dark scarring on his left shoulder from the time he was beaten by three Baltimore police officers in front of his child.

“It was 1 July, 2013, 6.37 pm,” he says.

Salaam was approaching his driveway after grocery shopping for a family barbecue when an officer pulled him out of the car and threw him against a gate. They slammed him on the concrete five times, and then proceeded to punch and kick him. His three-year-old began screaming, officers threatened to send his son to social services, while Salaam lay on the floor, hog-tied.

He pleaded with them to call his mother, who is a judge in New Jersey. To this day he says he doesn’t know why he was targeted.

Salaam was charged with attempting to elude an officer, the use of a handheld phone while driving, and driving without a seatbelt. After a brief stint in hospital where he was treated for chipped bones and gashes, he spent 48 hours in jail, and was later released without charge. Salaam is now suing the police commissioner for damages.

You can read more here.

Baltimore police commissioner says officers will recover

Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts has been addressing the press in Baltimore.

He said he was “extremely disappointed” with events in Baltimore this evening.

One officer’s left knee cap was severely damaged, but Batts said that all the officers will be ok.

Batts condemned the actions of some of the people involved in the unrest, and said: “This is not protesting. This is not your first amendment rights. This is criminal activity”.

I’m handing over live coverage of rioting in Baltimore to my colleague Paul Farrell in Sydney.

It appears the National Guard are now arriving in Baltimore City:

Here’s a video clip of the Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake press conference earlier today.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake

It is likely that the mayor’s decision making tonight and over the weekend is going to come under intense scrutiny.

Her words from a press conference on Sunday, after protesters clashed with police dressed in riot gear on Saturday night, are being pored over by commentators.

On Sunday, Rawlings-Blake said:

“It’s a very delicate balancing act, because, while we tried to make sure that they were protected from the cars and the other things that were going on, we also gave those who wished to destroy space to do that as well.”

At today’s press conference, which happened hours after the unrest began, Rawlings-Blake accused members of the media of taking her words out of context.

But already questions are being raised about how quickly officers responded to looting and rioting going on in North Avenue earlier today, and how quickly firefighters attended to blazes throughout the city.

Others are also citing a press release issued by the Baltimore City Police earlier today, which said they had received “credible information” that gangs in the city had entered into partnership to “take out” police officers.

In a number of interviews on TV today, Baltimore Police officers were asked if these threats may have contributed to them initially holding off.

There are others who are already questioning the decision to shut the city’s public schools tomorrow. Many of those out on the street tonight were young, and colleagues observed some of school age involved in looting.

Rawlings-Blake press conference Sunday

Updated

Hillary Clinton "praying for peace and safety"

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has just tweeted about events in Baltimore. She says she is “praying for peace and safety” in Baltimore and adds the death of Freddie Gray “is a tragedy that demands answers”. It’s signed with an “H” indicating Clinton wrote the tweet personally.

A police officer walks by a blaze.
A police officer walks by a blaze. Photograph: Matt Rourke/AP
Baltimore firefighters fight fires in mutliple burning buildings set ablaze by rioters during clashes in Baltimore.
Baltimore firefighters fight fires in mutliple burning buildings set ablaze by rioters during clashes in Baltimore. Photograph: Jim Bourg/REUTERS

Updated

The Johns Hopkins Hospital has just issued a statement confirming that it remains open tonight. It adds that Baltimore City Police are investigating reports of a someone walking north on Broadway [a road that intersects the hospital] carrying a gun.

“No one was harmed. No shots were fired. The person is no longer on the East Baltimore medical campus,” the statement says.

“Baltimore City is under a curfew from 10 pm to 5am. The Mayor has said that if it is the case of a medical emergency, you will not be impacted by the curfew.”

The citywide curfew announced by Rawlings-Blake does not come into force until tomorrow evening. A curfew for juveniles is currently in place.

Schools in Baltimore City will be closed tomorrow:

"Go home. Please." - David Simon's message to Baltimore

First things first.

Yes, there is a lot to be argued, debated, addressed. And this moment, as inevitable as it has sometimes seemed, can still, in the end, prove transformational, if not redemptive for our city. Changes are necessary and voices need to be heard. All of that is true and all of that is still possible, despite what is now loose in the streets.

But now — in this moment — the anger and the selfishness and the brutality of those claiming the right to violence in Freddie Gray’s name needs to cease. There was real power and potential in the peaceful protests that spoke in Mr. Gray’s name initially, and there was real unity at his homegoing today. But this, now, in the streets, is an affront to that man’s memory and a dimunition of the absolute moral lesson that underlies his unnecessary death.

If you can’t seek redress and demand reform without a brick in your hand, you risk losing this moment for all of us in Baltimore. Turn around. Go home. Please.

A firefighter battles a blaze.
A firefighter battles a blaze. Photograph: Matt Rourke/AP
A protestor stands atop a burning car.
A protestor stands atop a burning car. Photograph: Jim Bourg/REUTERS
A protester walks through the smoke of burning Baltimore buildings set ablaze by rioters.
A protester walks through the smoke of burning Baltimore buildings set ablaze by rioters. Photograph: Jim Bourg/REUTERS

Updated

My colleagues Jon Swaine and Ben Jacobs are now at the corner of East Monument Street and North Collington, in East Baltimore close to the Johns Hopkins school of public medicine. Further looting has reportedly broken out and police are keeping reporters away:

Updated

Loretta Lynch condemns "senseless act of violence"

The newly sworn in US attorney general, Loretta Lynch, who today became America’s first black woman to take the job, has condemned the rioting in Baltimore as “senseless acts of violence”.

Lynch said:

I condemn the senseless acts of violence by some individuals in Baltimore that have resulted in harm to law enforcement officers, destruction of property and a shattering of the peace in the city of Baltimore. Those who commit violent actions, ostensibly in protest of the death of Freddie Gray, do a disservice to his family, to his loved ones and to legitimate peaceful protestors who are working to improve their community for all its residents.

Her full statement can he read below:

Building alight in East Baltimore

A correction to that last post, the fire is blazing in East Baltimore on the corner of Chester and Gay St in East Baltimore. It’s reportedly a building owned by the church across the street.

The location of this fire indicates another front has opened up in the rioting, which was previously mostly in West Baltimore on North Avenue.

Here are more images:

Updated

I’m just going to break away from the press conference for a second to drop this tweet from my colleague Paul Lewis. Paul is livestreaming a huge fire in West Baltimore:

General Singh adds that National Guard troops will enter Baltimore in armoured humvees and reiterates that up to 5,000 troops are available should they be requested by police.

“We will be carrying our weapons, my folks need to be able to protect themselves,” General Singh says.

Maryland governor Larry Hogan is now addressing the press. He says has spoken to president Obama to update him on the situation in Baltimore and describes the decision to deploy the National Guard as a “last resort”.

“I’ve not made this decision lightly. The national guard represent the last resort,” he says.

He acknowledges the rights of protests to demonstrate peacefully, but says Baltimore residents deserve “peace and safety in their community.”

Violence “cannot and will not be tolerated,” he says, condemning violence against police officers.

Col William Pallozzi, of the Maryland state police says the city will be divided into sectors with different police forces assigned different areas to patrol.

General Linda Singh, commander of the Maryland National Guard said up to 5,000 troops could be deployed into Baltimore and advises a “massive number” will be seen on the streets tonight.

“I would highly recommend that we all go in and get some sleep,” she advises residents.

She emphasis that this is “not at the point of marshall law... we are in support of the police department.”

Updated

Here are some photos and video from North Avenue and Fulton Street right now, where it appears police and protesters are standing off:

Summary

Quick recap from that press conference and then I’ll bring you some more from West Baltimore where my colleagues Ben Jacobs and Paul Lewis are reporting from the ground.

  • 15 Baltimore officers have been injured during today’s ongoing civil unrest. Two remain in hospital.
  • The National Guard is being deployed in Baltimore City after Mayor Rawlings-Blake requested governor Hogan call a State of Emergency.
  • A citywide curfew will be brought in tomorrow from 10pm. It is scheduled to last a week.
  • Police will enforce an existing 9pm curfew for under 14s and a 10pm curfew for under 18s.

Updated

A spokesman for the Baltimore City Police informs reporters that 15 officers have been injured in the unrest. He says that two are still being treated in hospital.

These two officers were injured by “flying debris”.

Rawlings-Blake reminds citizens that a juvenile curfew for those up to the age of 14 remains in place in the city from 9pm. She states that those up to the age of 17 should be off the streets at 10pm. The citywide curfew between 10pm and 5am will be brought in tomorrow.

Rawlings-Blake is now taking questions from the press. She’s asked why it has taken her so long to hold a press conference (the unrest has been going on since around 4pm ET)

“We’ve been managing the situation,” she says.

“You have to balance the call with actually managing and calling press events.”

She continues: “There’s a lot of moving parts and I wanted to make sure I was dedicated to that.”

A protester looks through a destroyed police car.
A protester looks through a destroyed police car. Photograph: Joe Giordano for the Guardian
Looters running wild in West Baltimore.
Looters running wild in West Baltimore. Photograph: Joe Giordano for the Guardian
Protestors smash windows.
Protestors smash windows. Photograph: Joe Giordano for the Guardian
A fire at the barricade set up by protesters.
A fire at the barricade set up by protesters. Photograph: Joe Giordano for the Guardian

Updated

Note of clarification on that last post.

It appears the curfew will be introduced tomorrow at 10pm.

Citywide curfew announced by Mayor Rawlings-Blake

Baltimore city mayor Stephanie Rawling-Blake is now addressing the press. She states that a citywide curfew will start at 10pm. It will last until 5am and will be in place for a week.

She describes the violent unrest as “very disturbing”.

“Too many people have spent generations building up this city for it to be destroyed by thugs who in a very senseless way are trying to destroy what so many folks have fought for,” she says.

“We are deploying every resource possible to try to regain control,” she says.

She states that an emergency operation centre has been activated.

A demonstrators jumps on a damaged Baltimore police department vehicle during clashes in Baltimore.
A demonstrators jumps on a damaged Baltimore police department vehicle during clashes in Baltimore. Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/REUTERS
A Baltimore police officer sprays pepper spray at demonstrators.
A Baltimore police officer sprays pepper spray at demonstrators. Photograph: Jose Luis Magana/AP
A demonstrator wearing a gas mask raises his fist as police stand in formation.
A demonstrator wearing a gas mask raises his fist as police stand in formation. Photograph: Patrick Semansky/AP

Updated

A CNN cameraman has been attacked by protesters:

The thing TV pictures never tell you is how surreal riots are. I just arrived on Monroe St and North Avenue to find a sound system with large speakers on the corner, a man stood on a yellow truck dancing to Michael Jackson’s Billy Jean with a white glove on. There was a drunk man dancing the in he middle of the intersection pouring vodka in the street. The ground was scattered with debris and looted goods. Shortly after people sprinted past me - away from riot police - and the music changed to Aerosmith’s Come Together.

Further east - the intersection of North Mount St I think - a liquor store had been looted. Two men, one named James, told me how they had rescued the owners who were attacked by the looters. The two men told a disturbing story about how the owners had to be pulled out. Police arrived firing flash bangs, rubber bullets and bean bags. As we talked people walked casually past, still looting cases of beer.

I was filming the interview and someone came up to me advised me to leave, quickly. A woman in a scarf said I would be harmed unless I deleted the video from my phone. In the end she and a group of young guys let me go and all was fine. Needless to say Baltimore feels totally lawless right now. But also, frankly, dreamlike. I am in my parked car and I can still hear the sound system, four blocks away, belting out Jacko.

Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is due to hold a press conference shortly.

My colleague Ben Jacobs who is reporting from the corner of North Avenue and Fulton Street has just sent this quick file:

At the corner of Fulton and North, liquor stores were being looted. Men, women and children were running off with bottles of spirits. Bottles were being thrown wildly at passing cars, with one man shoting “open bar” while double fisting bottles of liquor.

About half a dozen members of the Bloods, a gang in Baltimore, stood guard over a black-owned store.

One member of the Bloods compared city residents’ relations with the police to someone locked in jail cell with an inmate who continually beat them up.

“Eventually you’ll fight back,” he said.

There are reports on social media on a gang truce and gangs have been playing at least some role to preserve a semblance of order.

Updated

My colleagues Paul Lewis and Ben Jacobs are both on North Avenue in West Baltimore where the heaviest rioting and looting is taking place:

State of Emergency declared

A State of Emergency in Baltimore has been declared by Maryland governor Larry Hogan who has also activated the National Guard.

The Governor is scheduled to address the press along with National Guard Adjunct General Linda Singh, at 8:30 pm.

Still no statement today from Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

Baltimore Police also state one of the hoses was cut:

Live pictures seem to show the firefighters have managed to get a hose connected and are now tackling the blaze.

Firefighters are now present at the CVS blaze on North Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue. CNN, which is broadcasting live from the scene, appeared to show footage of one person slashing a fire hose that had just been attached to a hydrant on the street.

President Obama briefed on violence

President Obama has been briefed on the violence by the newly sworn in US attorney general Loretta Lynch, according to a release from the White House. The President has also spoken to Baltimore City mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

The release continues:

Attorney General Lynch assured the President that she would continue to monitor events in Baltimore and that the Department of Justice stands ready to provide any assistance that might be helpful there.

It has also been confirmed that the Baltimore Orioles have postponed their Monday night baseball game, scheduled to take place in the city.

Updated

Video from the scene at the CVS pharmacy on Pennsylvania and North Avenue shows a long line of officers standing by the burning building as a group stands on the other side of the road.

CVS say no employees have been injured.

It appears that the CVS pharmacy on North Avenue, which was looted a little earlier, has now been set on fire. CNN is showing live pictures and reporters on the ground are saying there are no firefighters present:

Updated

Maryland National Guard on alert

Today’s looting and acts of violence in Baltimore will not be tolerated. In response, I have put the Maryland National Guard on alert so they can be in position to deploy rapidly as needed. I strongly condemn the actions of the offenders who are engaged in direct attacks against innocent civilians, businesses and law enforcement officers. There is a significant difference between protesting and violence and those committing these acts will be prosecuted under the fullest extent of the law.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the men and women in uniform who are actively working to stem this violence and several who been injured in the line of duty. These malicious attacks against law enforcement and local communities only betray the cause of peaceful citizens seeking answers and justice following the death of Freddie Gray.

A man throws a brick at police.
A man throws a brick at police. Photograph: Patrick Semansky/AP
Looting has broken out in Baltimore during the protests.
Looting has broken out in Baltimore during the protests. Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/REUTERS
A police vehicle burns.
A police vehicle burns. Photograph: Patrick Semansky/AP

Updated

More video and images of looting and burning patrol cars on North Avenue are coming in:

Updated

Baltimore police have just published a video of the press conference held by Captain Kowalczyk at 4:30 pm. Kowalczyk describes those involved in the unrest as “outrageous criminals” who “attacked our officers”.

Here’s the full video:

Gray family "hurt" by the unrest

The Gray family attorney William Murphy Jr has just appeared on local TV news, calling for calm and saying the Gray family are “hurt” by the scenes of unrest.

“They know nonviolence is the only way to deal with this problem,” Murphy Jr said.

“We want to have peaceful marches for these kids. They don’t know. They just don’t know.”

He said the Gray family are “glued to the television right now” and, “they’re hurt”.

“We don’t need this, it’s not good for the city, it’s not good for the family,” he adds.

News networks are showing live video of a large group of protesters breaking into a credit and check cashier on what appears to be North Avenue in West Baltimore, a few blocks from the Gilmor Houses public housing project where Gray was arrested.

It appears there are no police on the scene, Capt Kowalczyk is talking to local TV news who ask him why no officers are policing the apparent looting.

He says police must ensure their work is “done safely, smartly, and we protect our officers”.

“We want to bring this to an end as quickly as possible,” he adds.

Eyewitness video posted on Twitter and Facebook around two hours ago appears to show police officers throwing rocks back at protesters. It’s unclear if the Vine and the video below were filmed at the same location:

Baltimore police media spokesman captain Eric Kowalczyk just gave a brief interview to CNN.

“Our highest priority here will be the protection and preservation of life,” he said.

He said there was no count on number of police vehicles that have been destroyed and was unable to confirm if a photojournalist had been injured in the unrest today.

Reported looting

A number of TV news channels are reporting that looting has broken on Pennsylvania Avenue in West Baltimore.

These reports are not confirmed however. Baltimore police are investigating:

Baltimore police state that all injured officers have been removed from the front lines of the unrest and are receiving medical treatment:

My colleague Ben Jacobs is in West Baltimore now where he says police are deploying pepper spray on protesters. He has sent these recent pictures and tweets over the last 20 minutes:

Violent unrest has broken out on the streets of Baltimore, with seven police officers, including one described as “unresponsive”, injured during clashes with protesters.

The unrest began just hours after the funeral of 25 year-old Freddie Gray, who suffered fatal injuries in police custody and died 19 April. Gray’s family and other black community leaders in Baltimore have repeatedly called for calm since his death.

Protesters have thrown rocks, bricks and other items at officersdressed in riot gear.

Police are reported to have deployed tear gas and pepper spray in response. One police patrol car appears to have been set alight by protesters.

We’ll bring you live updates and developments as they occur and information from our reporters on the ground, Paul Lewis and Ben Jacobs.

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For four decades, a controversial idea has shaped how autism is understood by researchers, healthcare professionals and the public: the claim that autistic people are “mind blind”. The phrase suggests an inability to grasp what others think or feel. It is simple, memorable – and wrong.
The Conversation
The Conversation
Demna brings sexy back in effort to reinvigorate Gucci
Designer’s first catwalk for the brand in Milan flirts with bad taste with short, tight dresses and a diamante G-string
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Neil Sedaka death: Legendary singer-songwriter behind ‘(Is This the Way to) Amarillo’ was 86
Sedaka was the songwriter behind a string of popular hits including ‘Breaking Up Is Hard to Do’ and ‘Love Will Keep Us Together’
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
A 'Mansion Tax' in Los Angeles Is Worsening the City's Housing Crisis
A transfer tax on high-value real estate transactions is reducing the number of homes on the market and limiting new construction.
Reason
Reason
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