The Maryland governor has put the state's National Guard on alert after several Baltimore police officers were injured in a riot that broke out on Monday following the funeral of a man who died after suffering a spinal injury in police custody.
"I strongly condemn the actions of the offenders who are engaged in direct attacks against innocent civilians businesses and law enforcement officers," Larry Hogan tweeted shortly after 6 p.m. ET.
Seven officers were injured in violent riots that broke out around 4:30 p.m. following the funeral of Freddie Gray, who died on April 19 from a spinal injury after being arrested and transported in police van a week before.
Some officers suffered broken bones, police spokesman Eric Kowalczyk told reporters, and one officer remained unresponsive.
By 6:30 p.m. ET, several large plumes of smoke could be seen coming from the roof of the CVS Pharmacy, where earlier rioters had been seen looting goods. Several firetrucks were on the scene.
Looting could also bee seen earlier in the day at a liquor store, a cellphone store and other businesses.
Young men carry away looted items from a CVS Pharmacy in Baltimore during riots that broke out Monday afternoon after the funeral for Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old man who died from a spinal injury sustained in police custody. (Patrick Semansky/Associated Press)
Kowalczyk said the riot began when a large group of people spread out over "a pretty significant area" in a violent demonstration following the Gray funeral.
Youths began pelting a city bus and passing police vehicles with stones outside the Mondawmin Mall in northwest Baltimore, just a few blocks from the site of the funeral for the 25-year-old.
A largely teenaged crowd threw rocks and bottles at a line of several hundred police in riot gear. Some demonstrators carried signs reading "Justice 4 Freddie Gray."
At least one police van was set on fire during the riot. (Patrick Semansky/Associated Press)
Police said they were working to arrest those who "without provocation attacked our police officers."
"You're going to see tear gas, you're going to see pepper balls," Kowalczyk said. "We're going to use appropriate methods to ensure that we're able to preserve the safety of that community."
On its official Twitter feed, police gave regular updates of the movements of the protesters, tweeting that a group of them had damaged several police cars and set one on fire. "The group is aggressive and violent," one tweet said.
At a press conference, Kowalczyk described the instigators of the violence as "lawless individuals with no regard for the safety of the people that live in the community."
Gray's death has led to days of protests in the latest outcry over U.S. law enforcement's treatment of minorities.
Gray's family, pastors and city officials had pleaded for peaceful demonstrations after some arrests and injuries at protests over the weekend.
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From a helicopter, police called for protesters to disperse, but the youths ignored the order.
Police spokesman Eric Kowalczyk said protesters attacked officers 'without provocation.' (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)
Earlier, at the funeral, speaker after speaker before the crowd packing the 2,500-seat New Shiloh Baptist Church said the world was watching to see if justice would be done for Gray.
J.M. Giordano, photo editor for Baltimore's City Paper who was beaten by police during a Freddie Gray protest over the weekend and was out documenting Monday's events, said the riot had little to do with Gray's funeral per se.
"The friends and family of Freddie Gray, they didn't want this kind of protest," he told CBC's Diana Swain.
"This is really a neighbourhood, I think, lashing out. A lot of people in these neighbourhoods are fed up with lack of police investigation, police getting off the hook for things."
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