April 29--REPORTING FROM BALTIMORE -- Defiant protesters threw bottles and police launched pepper spray on Baltimore's west side as authorities tried to clear the crowd in this riot-racked city after the 10 p.m. curfew passed.
As a large crowd of media watched late Tuesday, angry demonstrators started small fires and knocked over some trash cans before they fled from the street near a burned-down CVS that has become the focus of this week's protests and violence.
A line of riot police continued to push through the west side of Baltimore as the situation remained unsettled late Tuesday evening.
Baltimore police said on Twitter that "a group of criminals" had started a fire outside a library near the CVS.
Some demonstrators had left on their own as the curfew approached.
Overhead, a helicopter hovered, broadcasting an order on its loudspeaker: "You must go home. You will be subject to arrest."
Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) tried to clear the crowd and keep the peace. "Please go home to your families ... I'm not asking you. I'm begging you," he said.
Police moved slowly, trying to push the protesters back without making direct contact.
Elsewhere, on the city's south side, the police department tweeted about 15 minutes before curfew that at least one officer had been hurt in a rock-throwing incident.
The tense city held its breath, waiting to see what would happen.
Earlier in the evening, a disembodied voice came over the police loudspeaker. The crowd thought the speaker, who didn't identify herself, was Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, though that could not be immediately confirmed. The woman said, "Thank you for the peaceful protests ... let's take our babies home."
"We are going to show them, what they think is going to happen is not going to happen, because we care about Baltimore and want to build a better Baltimore," the woman said on the loudspeaker. "Let's show them what kind of Baltimore we have."
As soon she stopped speaking, a group of men largely dressed in red, with arms locked, marched like a human fence toward the demonstrators and swept them away from the police in riot gear.
After the line moved away, a smaller crowd of more than 100 people, apparently determined to risk breaking curfew and possible arrest, remained near the CVS.
Some young people lingered, saying they were determined to stay. "I'm a grown man," said one who declined to give his name. "I can do what I want."
But the crowd began to thin as 10 p.m. approached. Several protesters asked what time it was, saying they wanted to leave before curfew.
A community leader used an amplifier to urge the crowd to leave. "Please go home. Do not give anyone excuses to do something that's not right ... it's not about selling out," she said.
Another man pleaded with the media to leave, saying if they did the crowd would go too.
But another man shouted, "We don't need no curfew. We are grown-ass people."
A man on a bicycle sat in front of the police line, as if waiting to see what would happen.
About 2,000 National Guard troops and more than 1,000 police officers were deployed to the streets of Baltimore, according to Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan. The city has been under a state of emergency after stone-throwing and arson erupted Monday hours after the funeral of a black man who suffered a mortal injury while in police custody.
"Maintaining law and order, protecting innocent lives and property is our No. 1 priority," Hogan, who has temporarily moved his office from the Capitol in Annapolis to Baltimore, said at a televised news conference. "We've got a long night ahead of us."
As darkness fell, Police Capt. Eric Kowalczyk told reporters that in one group of demonstrators that had gathered on the streets, "There has been an increase in the level of anger and frustration in the crowd, and that is starting to grow. ... We hope for peace."
A couple hundred protesters gathered around City Hall after dark, about an hour before the 10 p.m. curfew, chanting "Justice for Freddy," singing "Lean on Me," and various Bob Marley tunes.
"Police brutality is something that people of African descent have suffered ever since the slave ships brought them over," one speaker said under a bright moon and the glow of television Kleig lights.
At least nine satellite trucks for reporters from around the world were parked around them to produce live shots. Police and National Guardsmen with military trucks stood guard outside a perimeter fence, holding guns and long billy clubs.
In a late afternoon news conference, Rawlings-Blake said the city had been relatively calm Tuesday, and she thanked residents and community leaders who helped clean up the debris from Monday night's riots.
"Today I think we saw a lot more of what Baltimore is about," she said. "We saw people coming together to reclaim our city."
Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said protests during the day had been peaceful. Officers arrested a few looters on the east side of the city Tuesday morning and one or two demonstrators who were part of a large march that moved down Pennsylvania Avenue on Tuesday afternoon.
"This is where we live. This is where we worship," Batts said. "This is where our kids go to school, so don't destroy it."
"This is where we live. This is where we worship," Batts said. "This is where our kids go to school, so don't destroy it."
Baltimore's schools were to reopen Wednesday, and officials vowed to punish any students who participated in the riots.
"I am deeply angered that the inexcusable actions of those few now threaten to color perceptions about the many," Baltimore City Public Schools Chief Executive Gregory E. Thornton said in a letter to parents Tuesday. "That is why I assert in the strongest possible terms that the students who engaged in violence on Monday will be held accountable. We are working to identify those students, who will experience consequences in full accordance with the law and City Schools' code of conduct."
Thornton called the decision to cancel classes Tuesday "a necessary decision because of ongoing cleanup in some neighborhoods, lack of transportation through the Mondawmin transit hub [where rioting first broke out Monday], and most important, the need for district staff to plan and make arrangements to ensure the safety of students and staff at school for the remainder of the week."
Earlier in the day, officials tallied the toll since unrest began Monday afternoon: 235 arrests, including 34 juveniles; 15 structure fires; 144 vehicles destroyed; and more than 20 police officers injured. At least one civilian was reported in critical condition, but no other details were given.
At the Tuesday news conference, Batts said nearly all of the officers, some who suffered hand injures when deflecting rocks and bottles, had been treated and released. One was hospitalized overnight with a serious head injury but is expected to recover.
In earlier remarks, Kowalczyk said police would enforce a curfew, set to begin at 10 p.m. and run until 5 a.m., but would use common sense. Those seeking medical care and returning from work were exempt from the curfew, he said.
He defended the police response.
"When we deployed our officers yesterday, we were deploying for a high school event," Kowalczyk said. "I don't think there's anyone that would expect us to deploy with automatic weapons and armored vehicles for 13- 14- and 15-year-olds."
He added: "What we saw last night was a group of people take advantage of a situation, a very unfortunate situation, and use that to tear down their own neighborhoods."
Hogan, the governor, said after touring the stricken areas earlier in the day, "This violence isn't accomplishing anything. It's counterproductive."
He pledged that violence would be dealt with forcefully and that the city would not have to endure a repeat of Monday night.
"This is not the Baltimore we love," the governor said.
As residents prepared for the start of the weeklong curfew, much of the city remained closed Tuesday. Schools and many businesses were shuttered, and the Baltimore Orioles postponed a second straight game against the Chicago White Sox. The Orioles and White Sox will play their regularly scheduled game Wednesday, but it was moved from the evening to the afternoon, and no fans will be admitted, Major League Baseball announced.
Camouflage-clad National Guard troops, armed with assault rifles, surrounded major public spaces such as City Hall and the Inner Harbor with a show of force that included heavy-duty military vehicles.
The governor said thousands of officers and troops were on the streets, with more expected. He thanked fellow Republican Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey for sending 150 state troopers, among the dozens from surrounding cities and states.
Baltimore residents struggled to shake off the nightmarish violence that began hours after Freddie Gray was buried.
Gray died April 19 of a severed spine, a week after he was taken into custody by Baltimore police. Officials are investigating the events, which drew early small and peaceful protests that escalated over the weekend and turned Baltimore into a battle zone Monday.
At a Washington news conference with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, President Obama said the issues of relations between African Americans and police were larger than the looters, whom he condemned.
"There's no excuse for the kind of violence that we saw yesterday," Obama said. "It is counterproductive. When individuals get crowbars and start prying open doors to loot, they're not protesting, they're not making a statement -- they're stealing. When they burn down a building, they're committing arson. And they're destroying and undermining businesses and opportunities in their own communities that rob jobs and opportunity from people in that area."
But the president also defended the right to protest and called for a broader discussion of how the nation deals with racism and police.
"We can't just leave this to the police. I think there are police departments that have to do some soul-searching. I think there are some communities that have to do some soul-searching. But I think we, as a country, have to do some soul-searching. This is not new. It's been going on for decades."
Meanwhile, some parts of Baltimore tried to return to a semblance of normalcy.
Holding brooms and shovels from their own homes, Baltimore residents showed up in droves to clean up the riot debris: shattered windows, rocks, ashes.
On a sunny Tuesday morning, the mood was much more cordial toward police, who were repeatedly offered bottled water as they stood guard over damaged retail shops. But there was a pervasive feeling that the goodwill could sour at any time.
"The anger you saw is about decades of pain and abuse in our community," said Megan Kenny, 38, an education provider in the city. "The movement isn't going to end. I mean, how do you end racism?"
Kenny and her boyfriend, Paul Mericle, 31, who works for Baltimore public schools, took the opportunity of an unexpected day off to join residents along North Avenue to clean up debris.
"People have been up cleaning since before dawn," Mericle said in the shadow of EZ Mart Tobacco and Convenience, which had been ransacked with shelves emptied.
Across the street, a big rig with a green trailer sat with piles of garbage bags as people with dust trays and snow shovels walked by.
Farther down the street, though, was a stark reminder of the tension. The CVS on North and Pennsylvania avenues sat smoldering as lines of county police stood with defensive shields. Opposite them was a crowd -- one man with a bullhorn -- talking about the death of Gray. As more residents began massing on the east side of Pennsylvania, police began handing out more shields out of a small trailer to the police.
"The violence isn't over," said a Baltimore police officer who was not authorized to speak publicly on the rioting. "We have a long way to go with the community here. We have a lot of wounds to heal."
Rawlings-Blake spoke of healing as she toured the damage. She said public transportation would be up and running and that she was working to make sure that "most government services can operate normally."
Speaking at the West Baltimore CVS, Rawlings-Blake said: "What happened last night means that more people are struggling.... We worked very hard to get CVS to come here."
Hogan said state insurance officials would work on helping residents. As the rioting ended, questions have continued about whether the city and state moved quickly enough to stop the violence. The governor was careful not to assign any blame to city officials, whom he praised.
Hogan said the state had prepared to mobilize the National Guard and issue an emergency declaration on Monday afternoon as television broadcast the first images of the confrontation between teenagers and police. The formal declarations came about 6 p.m., seconds after they were requested by the city, he said.
Asked if the mayor should have called for help sooner, Hogan replied that he didn't want to question what Baltimore officials were doing: "They're all under tremendous stress. We're all on one team."
During comments as she toured the damaged areas of her city, Rawlings-Blake pushed back against her critics. "There are always going to be armchair quarterbacks that have never sat in my seat," she told reporters. "This isn't the first emergency that I've had to deal with, and I know you have to put in the work and manage the crisis on the ground."
Batts, the police commissioner, said late Monday that the city simply didn't have enough officers to maintain control of all the neighborhoods, as looting and fires spread from one end of the city to the other.
"They just outnumbered us and outflanked us," he said. "We needed to have more resources."
He said the extra manpower arriving late Monday and Tuesday would help the police regain control of neighborhoods and enforce a weeklong curfew. Batts said he was dismayed by scenes of Baltimore's teenagers looting and burning.
"This is not protesting. This is not your 1st Amendment rights," he said.
He praised one woman who was filmed smacking her teenage son on the head and pulling off his hood. "I wish we had more parents that took charge of their kids out there tonight."
Times staff writers Michael Muskal and James Queally contributed to this report from Los Angeles.
UPDATES
7:58 p.m.: Updated with more details.
7:38 p.m.: Updated with more details as curfew passes.
7:03 p.m.: Updated with more details from outside the CVS.
6:56 p.m.: Updated with more details as curfew nears.
6:23 p.m.: Updated with details about a protest at City Hall.
6:11 p.m.: This post has been updated with schools planning to reopen on Wednesday.
4:37 p.m.: This post has been updated with new comments from the governor and police.
3:10 p.m. This post was updated with the latest information from Baltimore city officials.
1:28 a.m.: This post was updated throughout.
11:36 a.m.: This post was updated with revised arrest figures.
10:47 a.m.: This post was updated throughout.
8:46 a.m.: This post was updated with the announcement that the Baltimore Orioles had postponed a second straight game.
This story was originally published at 6:58 a.m.
