Baltimore mayor removes citywide curfew

Patricia Freeman prays during a rally in front of City Hall, Sunday, May 3, 2015, in Baltimore. Hundreds of jubilant people prayed and chanted for justice days after the city's top prosecutor charged six officers involved in Freddie Gray's arrest. Gov. Larry Hogan has called for a statewide "Day Of Prayer And Peace" on Sunday after civil unrest rocked Baltimore. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Patricia Freeman prays during a rally in front of City Hall, Sunday, May 3, 2015, in Baltimore. Hundreds of jubilant people prayed and chanted for justice days after the city's top prosecutor charged six officers involved in Freddie Gray's arrest. Gov. Larry Hogan has called for a statewide "Day Of Prayer And Peace" on Sunday after civil unrest rocked Baltimore. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

BALTIMORE -- Six days after the death of Freddie Gray sparked riots in Baltimore, the city's mayor lifted a citywide curfew on Sunday, signaling an end to the extraordinary measures taken to ensure public safety amid an outcry over police practices.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people prayed and chanted for justice at a rally in front of City Hall organized by faith leaders. The rally comes days after the city's top prosecutor charged six officers involved in Gray's arrest.

Speaker after speaker exhorted the crowd not to rest just because the officers have been charged. The Rev. Jamal Bryant, a leader of the protests that followed Gray's April 12 arrest and the death of the 25-year-old black man a week later, drew cheers when he said the officers deserve jail time.

"We've got to see this all the way through, until all six officers trade in their blue uniform for an orange uniform," Bryant said. "Let them know: Orange is the new black."

The Rev. Lisa Weah, pastor of the New Bethlehem Baptist Church in Gray's neighborhood, said the message of equal justice for all must not be lost.

"Our prayer is that Baltimore will be the model for the rest of the nation," she said.

Police said Sunday that 486 people had been arrested since April 23 and that 113 officers had been injured at riots and protests. The extent of the officers' injuries was unclear. Last week, police had said that out of nearly 100 injured officers, 13 were hurt to the extent that they couldn't work, and 15 were on desk duty.

The order for residents to stay home between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. had been in place since Tuesday, and officials had planned to maintain it through this morning. Protests since last Monday's riots have been peaceful, and Friday's announcement of charges against the officers eased tensions.

"Effective immediately, I have rescinded my order instituting a citywide curfew," Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said in a statement Sunday morning. "My goal has always been to not have the curfew in place a single day longer than was necessary.

"My No. 1 priority in instituting a curfew was to ensure the public peace, safety, health and welfare of Baltimore citizens," the Democratic mayor said. "It was not an easy decision, but one I felt was necessary to help our city restore calm."

Gray died after suffering a broken neck while inside a police van. On Friday, State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby filed charges against the six officers involved in his arrest, transport and fatal injury. The officers face charges ranging from manslaughter to second-degree murder.

Mosby, who deemed the death a homicide, said Gray's neck was broken because he was placed head-first into a police van while in handcuffs and later leg shackles, where he was left to slam against the walls of the small metal compartment. Police said the officers who arrested Gray ignored his cries for help because they thought he was faking his injuries. He was repeatedly denied medical attention.

He died in a hospital a week after his arrest, which was captured on a bystander's cellphone.

At a demonstration Saturday that was billed as a "victory rally," speakers expressed gratitude to Mosby for her decision.

"Every prosecutor should have such backbone," said Malik Shabazz, president of Black Lawyers for Justice and one of the demonstration's organizers.

The curfew, which was ordered Tuesday after a night of violence, looting and arson, drew harsh criticism from the city's residents.

Many businesses shut down hours before the curfew began each night to allow employees to return to their homes, and workers throughout the city complained of lost wages.

About 3,000 National Guard soldiers were deployed to the city along with 1,000 extra police officers, including some from out of state. Republican Gov. Larry Hogan said Sunday that the Guard and the officers would be leaving over the next few days.

"When I came into the city on Monday night, it was in flames," Hogan said. "We think it's time to get the community back to normal again. It's been a very hard week, but we've kept everybody safe. Since Monday night, we haven't had any serious problems."

Many demonstrators accused the police and the National Guard of rigorously enforcing the curfew in predominantly black neighborhoods while white residents were allowed to flout it without fear of arrest for a misdemeanor.

The Maryland chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to Rawlings-Blake on Saturday alleging that the curfew was "being enforced arbitrarily and selectively" to break up peaceful protests and prevent media outlets from providing accurate coverage of police activity.

"The curfew is having a dramatic effect on the ability of Baltimore residents to simply go about their daily lives free from fear or arbitrary arrest," the letter read, adding that it's also "the target of protest and the source of new problems rather than a solution."

The curfew had been a focus of a large rally outside City Hall on Saturday -- one man held a handwritten sign reading, "End the curfew. Our lives matter."

More than 200 people were arrested during last Monday's riots, and more than half of those were released without charges. Rawlings-Blake said during an appearance Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press that authorities are combing through videotapes to identify looters and charge them.

She reiterated Sunday that she and her administration don't condone the rioting that has destroyed and damaged several businesses in the city, after saying last month that rioters had been given "space to destroy."

"I certainly think that it was taken out of context," Rawlings-Blake said on Meet the Press.

Rawlings-Blake used the phrase in a news conference while describing the balance between policing and giving peaceful protesters the space to share their message. "It's a very delicate balancing act," she said. "Because while we tried to make sure that they were protected from the cars and other things that were going on, we also gave those who wished to destroy space to do that, as well."

On Sunday, Rawlings-Blake said that she used the "wrong phrase" to describe the way rioters took advantage of the situation. "I certainly used the wrong phrase to talk about what was clear -- that there were people who took advantage of the peaceful demonstrators' First Amendment rights and they used it to destroy our city," she said.

Rawlings-Blake also pushed back on a claim from at least one protester that the rioting and destruction of a CVS store helped lead to charges against the six officers involved in Gray's death. "What happened with the rioting and the destruction of CVS was senseless," she said.

Meanwhile, Mondawmin Mall, where looters hauled away thousands of dollars worth of merchandise last Monday evening, reopened in west Baltimore on Sunday afternoon.

And although city police continued to maintain a large, visible presence nearby, where much of the unrest has been centered, the number of officers was far fewer. Those that were there no longer wore the black riot gear they used last week.

At the intersection of North and Pennsylvania avenues -- the daily gathering spot for the protesters since last Monday -- the mess of shattered windows, rocks, and other remains from the unrest were gone.

Traffic passed through uninterrupted and people came and went, walking to neighbor's homes, corner shops or grocery stores.

Many attended church, heeding Hogan's call for a statewide "Day of Prayer and Peace" after last week's nonstop demonstrations.

"As we begin to rebuild and restore, let us renew our faith in the true spirit of our city and its people," he said in a statement. "I pray that [Sunday] will be a day of reflection and will serve as a foundation for how we all conduct ourselves in the days and months to come."

Inside the New Shiloh Baptist Church, pastor Harold Carter Jr. preached to a rapt audience from the pulpit. The church is where Gray's funeral was held less than a week earlier.

"Unless one is sleeping like Rip Van Winkle or under a rock ... everyone is mindful of all that has been transpiring here in our city," he said. "In spite of the aftermath of Monday evening and into Tuesday ... God is still watching over us."

Information for this article was contributed by Juliet Linderman, Ben Nuckols, Michael Biesecker, David Dishneau and Julie Walker of The Associated Press; by Alan Blinder of The New York Times; by W.J. Hennigan of the Los Angeles Times; and by Arit John and David Knowles of Bloomberg News.

A Section on 05/04/2015

Upcoming Events