Baltimore Peaceful On First Day Of Curfew Being Lifted

Baltimore carried on peacefully Sunday as Democratic Mayor Stephanie-Rawlings-Blake lifted the curfew imposed last week in the aftermath of citywide rioting for Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old man who was killed in police custody. On the same day, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, ordered the National Guard to withdraw from Charm City.

Rawlings-Blake announced the end of the curfew in a statement Sunday, one day ahead of schedule, according to the Associated Press.

“My number one priority in instituting a curfew was to ensure the public peace, safety, health and welfare of Baltimore citizens,” Rawlings-Blake said. “It was not an easy decision, but one I felt was necessary to help our city restore calm.”

The Baltimore mayor imposed the 10 p.m. – 5 a.m. curfew last Tuesday after Gray’s funeral the day before, in which rioting throughout the city ensued. Shops, bars, and restaurants throughout Baltimore were looted or destroyed as a result. The curfew was slated to last seven days.

According to WUSA, all was peaceful in the first evening without the curfew imposed.

Hogan said the National Guard would be leaving over the next few days. “We think it’s time to get the community back to normal again,” Hogan told the AP. “It’s been a very hard week, but we’ve kept everybody safe.” The first term governor declared Sunday a statewide “Day of Prayer and Peace.”

Most symbolic of the riots was the destruction of a CVS pharmacy last Monday on the corner of West North and Pennsylvania Avenue, The Los Angeles Times noted.

Civil unrest also caused the Orioles baseball team to postpone its first two games against the Chicago White Sox and reschedule both games for a single-admission doubleheader on May 28, according to Russia Today.

The third game of the series was played last Wednesday, but was closed to paying customers. Only allowed into Oriole Park at Camden Yards were media and professional scouts, reported WLS. The closed-door affair was believed to be the first of its kind in which fans were not allowed to enter a Major League Baseball stadium in the league’s 145-year history.

Furthermore, the Orioles played “home games” against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field, the home ballpark of the Rays, in St. Petersburg, Fla., last weekend.

The protests, and more specifically, the curfew, also affected how businesses operated. Jimmy’s Famous Seafood had planned for several weeks to show the “Fight of the Century” between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.

But because of the curfew, the business had to cancel its plans and issue refunds, The Baltimore Sun reported. The establishment posted the following statement on its Facebook Page:

Due to the wonderful leadership shown by our great Mayor, we will not be able to broadcast tonight’s Mayweather vs. Pacquiao Fight.

We will be issuing full refunds to those who pre-purchased tickets, despite not being able to recoup the 10K we paid to show the fights. Sorry for any inconvenience, and thank you for always supporting our UFC/Boxing/WWE events.

According to police, 486 people have been arrested since April 23; and 113 police have been injured in the protests. Since the initial rioting, most of the protests throughout Baltimore have been peaceful.

State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby charged six officers involved in Gray’s transport and arrest. One has been charged with second degree murder, three have been charged with involuntary manslaughter, and two were with second-degree-assault, the AP reported.

The rioting also spurred a discussion over the word ‘thug,’ with some suggesting it is coated in racism, even though President Barack Obama himself has used the word to describe the rioters in Baltimore. “It’s rooted in a racialized understanding of black people,” Brittany Cooper of Salon told MSNBC’s Alex Wagner last week.

Still, there have been some positive stories in the fallout of the civil unrest in Baltimore. “I’m going to get out here, and I’m going to lead by example,” said Laquicha Harper, who showed up at the aforementioned CVS at 7 AM to help with the cleanup last Tuesday. “Now it’s about picking up and cleaning up for our own community.”

h/t: Fox News

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