Maryland’s National Guard were on the ground in Baltimore early this morning as more fires and looting continued to grip the city in the wake of protests over Freddie Gray’s death.
Police Commissioner Anthony Batts told reporters the more than a dozen officers injured on Monday were going to be OK, but six were seriously injured.
Batts also said the city was “calming down, slowly but surely, other than the car fires and street fires.”
Maryland State Police activated 500 officers and have requested up to 5,000 law enforcement officials from neighboring areas including Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. Reports of multiple fires and looting at Mondawmin Mall, a Save-A-Lot and a Rite Aid continued as night fell over Baltimore, but Batts said Mondawmin Mall, where teenage protesters had earlier clashed with cops, had been secured.
At about 10 p.m. shots were fired at an officer in northwest Baltimore but no one was hit and the suspect fled, Batts said. “This is not protesting. This is not your First Amendment rights. This is criminal activity,” he added. Read more at CBS Local.
{Andy Heller-Matzav.com Newscenter}
Things would never have gotten out of hand if Baltimore had a Mayor.
#1 – Baltimore has a Mayor, and she is furious about this. She was the one who requested that the Guard be called in, and has clamped a 10pm – 5am curfew on the whole city (starts at 9pm for juveniles). She has called the rioters “thugs” and vows that this stops now. If you are under the impression that Baltimore has no mayor you are either from somewhere else or you have a political agenda.