Baltimore curfew stays in effect after City Hall rally

BALTIMORE — Thousands gathered at a City Hall demonstration on Saturday that was more celebratory than tense, but police announced the city's 10 p.m. curfew would remain in place for the night.

During an early evening media briefing, Police Commissioner Anthony Batts noted the peace of recent nights but said law enforcement officials were approaching the evening with caution after the destruction earlier in the week.

"The violence of last Monday was unprecedented for this city. It was a dramatic impact with a lot of loss of property and damage to the buildings and to officers out here," he said.

Batts acknowledged that many residents want the curfew to end, but said it would remain in effect Saturday night.

"Tonight, we see some of the same people in Baltimore that were here last Monday. We recognize the concerns over the curfew. For tonight, for everyone's safety, we're going to keep the curfew in place. We thank everyone for their patience and cooperation for the last four nights of peace and stabilization within our city. We all want to get back to normal and have city running in rite direction," he said.

The mood was less anxious on Saturday, one day after the state prosecutor announced the decision to charge six police officers in the death of Freddie Gray. Batts closed his press briefing with a joke.

"We understand the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight is tonight. I predict the winner is going to be ...," he said, pausing. "Have a good night."

At the City Hall rally, which featured thousands of protesters amid heavily armed police and National Guard troops, the atmosphere was more celebratory than tense following the prosecutor's decision.

Marching through the streets, demonstrators held signs that read "Racism is a disease," "It is right to rebel" and "Stop racist police terror." Many shouted "We have voices" and "12 jurors for Freddie."

Gray, a black male, died of spinal injuries suffered while in police custody April 12. His death led to 10 days of protests, which turned violent Monday after his funeral. Clashes between police and protesters prompted the arrests of more than 200 people and injuries to at least 20 police officers.

Saturday's rally was the first large-scale, organized gathering since the felony charges — ranging from assault to murder — were announced in the Gray case.

While largely celebratory, it also reflected a sense of frustration over the circumstances of Gray's death and a desire for convictions in the case.

Sean Price, who's from the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood where Freddie Gray lived, said: "We still got issues in Sandtown. ... I want real change. We have real issues that we need to address."

A man in the crowd shouted back, "Speak on it!"

Speakers emphasized residents registering to vote, as well as the legal battles ahead.

Maryland state Sen. Catherine Pugh took the lectern for a few moments, emphasizing work that she says is in progress and encouraging peace.

"Let's do this in peace and let's continue to move this forward," Pugh said.

Arica Coleman, 53, a college professor, made the hour-and-15-minute drive from her home in Newark, Del., for the rally. She said blacks have been fighting for equality and an end to racism for years and isn't sure when the justice they've long pursued will be fully realized.

"When you look at the civil rights movement and the black power movement, we have bled and died, yet we are still dealing with this issue," she said.

"The problem continues to be white supremacy and white privilege. People don't want to acknowledge that we have a system that privileges whiteness and that the playing field is not even."

She added that demonstrators must "keep the pressure on" and that she hopes the protests continue throughout the country. She praised the state's attorney for her decision to charge officers in the death of Gray.

Steve Aaron, 42, of Baltimore, said marches like Saturday's show that people care about police brutality and want to push for awareness about the unfair treatment blacks receive from officers.

"Throughout history, black lives have been cheapened," he said. "That's why it's so easy for black men to be killed by police and for it to be business as usual."

Aaron, a life-long resident of the city, said he hopes officers won't unfairly target people for wearing a hat backwards, sweatpants and a white T-shirt standing around the neighborhood.

"Freddie Gray is a story of all of us," Aaron said. "Any one one of us could have been a Freddie Gray."

Among the speakers Saturday was Cephus Johnson, the uncle of Oscar Grant.

Grant, a black 22-year-old, was killed in California when he was shot by a transit officer who said he meant to use his Taser rather than his gun to subdue Grant on New Year's Day in 2009.

"I'm standing with you in solidarity," Johnson told the large crowd gathered in a grassy area in front of City Hall. "You can't compromise. Those officers were wrong. ...They need to be charged, convicted and sent to jail. ...The whole racist criminal justice system has to be revamped."

At the rally, protestors also chanted, "They got guns, we got voices. They got tanks, we got voices."

Kwame Rose, a protest organizer whose encounter with Geraldo Rivera went viral, said the week's events led to Friday's announcement that six officers were charged in Freddie Gray's death.

"Without Monday night, charges would not have been brought," he said. "We made a statement."

"We burned down a few buildings on Monday night, but there were thousands of homes that were boarded up first," he said.

Two mothers whose sons were killed by police spoke about justice.

Marian Gray-Hopkins, whose 19-year-old son was shot to death by police in Prince George's County, Md., said she was there in support of Freddie Gray's family. "I'm here to say that you can get an indictment — what's important is the conviction." She said mothers were planning on marching to the Department of Justice on May 9 to show leaders in Washington that "black does matter."

Darlene Cain, whose son Dale Graham was shot by police in East Baltimore, said, "I'm here to let you know I'm going to stand" and protest. "They got the right mothers — they just killed the wrong sons." Graham died in 2008.

Gray-Hopkins and Cain were among a group of 10 mothers who traveled to the White House this week to protest police brutality, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Allen Price Sr., from Bel Air, Md., held a sign on the City Hall lawn that said, "This is not a black and white issue. This is a right and wrong issue." Price said he originally made the sign in 2000, to protest the contested election, and felt compelled to pull it out today and demonstrate at the rally.

Price, who was raised in the Baltimore neighborhood of Monroe North, blocks away from Sandton-Winchester, said, "This is the new civil rights movement," he said. "I see all of America here."

He said he believed the city and country would see change. "I know that the spirit of God is in this place right here — there's no doubt in my mind," he said.

The rally at City Hall ended around 5 p.m. Saturday, and blocks of protesters marched west through downtown.

In anticipation of Saturday's rally, law enforcement authorities erected barricades to block traffic around City Hall. Armored military vehicles were parked at the checkpoints, and there were large numbers of police and troops donning body armor, many carrying assault rifles.

At City Hall itself, there were dozens of police officers and members of the Guard.

Across downtown, at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, the CityLit festival went on as planned, even as two other rites of spring in Baltimore, Flower Mart and the Kinetic Sculpture Race, were canceled.

"We're about the only cultural thing happening in town," said Gregg Wilhelm, the CityLit executive director.

The festival didn't have as strong attendance as in previous years — Wilhelm said it typically draws 2,500-3,000 people but didn't have an estimate for Saturday — but he said the show would go on if the library stayed open. The library was a hive of muted activity, including people packing the cafe tables and playing on a large chessboard on the floor in a side room.

"I will live with less traffic today for the message we are sending," Wilhelm said. "We've always prided ourselves on the quality and diversity" of the festival.

This year's festival opened with an impromptu "invocation" to acknowledge the week that included a reading of a new poem about Freddie Gray by poet Afaa Michael Weaver.

"Yesterday's news was a great first step, but there's a long path ahead that requires thoughtful conversations that lead to meaningful solutions. I believe that poets will lead that conversation," Wilhelm said. He said poets are "sensitive to the nuance of language and, as we've seen this past week, it's often a lack of sensitivity that changes perceptions."

Gov. Larry Hogan says he hopes to see the continuation of the four days of calm in the city that followed Monday's violence.

Hogan said in a statement that the "right to demonstrate is a fundamental part of our society, but damaging property or putting innocent bystanders in danger will not be tolerated."

Hogan thanked the Maryland National Guard, the Maryland State Police and local police from outside Baltimore for helping to keep the peace.

While jubilation appeared to be the mood in Baltimore's streets Friday after State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced the filing of charges, police reported 38 protest-related arrests and 15 curfew-violations arrests Friday night.

The officers and the charges: officer Caesar Goodson Jr. (second-degree murder), officer William Porter (manslaughter), Lt. Brian Rice (manslaughter), officer Edward Nero (assault), officer Garrett Miller (assault) and Sgt. Alicia White (manslaughter).

Gray family representatives said Friday they hoped the case served as motivation to reform the way police do their jobs in communities across the country and urged members of the public to express themselves peacefully.

"We are satisfied with today's charges," said Richard Shipley, Gray's stepfather. "These charges are an important step in getting justice for Freddie and we ask that whoever comes to our city — a city that we love, a city that we live in — come in peace, and if you are not coming in peace, please don't come at all, because this city needs to get back to work."

The Baltimore police officers union, however, says the six officers charged in the case aren't responsible for Gray's death.

Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 President Gene Ryan made the comment Friday in a letter to Mosby before she announced the charges. It was the union's strongest statement to date in the officers' defense.

"As tragic as this situation is, none of the officers involved are responsible for the death of Mr. Gray," Ryan wrote. "To the contrary, at all times, each of the officers diligently balanced their obligations to protect Mr. Gray and discharge their duties to protect the public."