Baltimore Riots: Police Say Curfew Violators Face Criminal Charge

This article will be updated throughout the day.

As the day turns toward evening, Baltimore City officials are reminding citizens that a curfew will take affect at 10 p.m.

Everyone must be off the streets from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. unless it is for a professional or medical reason.

“Our primary mission is to restore order,” Gov. Larry Hogan said Tuesday evening. ”Acts of violence and destruction of property cannot and will not be tolerated.

Baltimore Police warned at a 7 p.m. briefing that curfew violators will be arrested and face a criminal charge. Whether someone is charged is at the discretion of officers, a spokesman said, because the curfew’s purpose is to preserve the peace. People coming home from the airport, or health-care workers going to and from work, or even the media covering the protests, shouldn’t be subject to arrest.

Anyone out after 10 p.m. should have a photo ID with them and preferably proof of their employment, authorities said.

Baltimore awoke Tuesday to a changed landscape, one with National Guardsmen posted around the city with guns drawn and neighbors shoveling up trash as communities inside and outside of Baltimore prayed for peace.

“There’s no excuse for the kind of violence we saw yesterday,” President Barack Obama said Tuesday.

He said Monday’s rioters could not be classified as protesters, explaining how they differed from those who demonstrated peacefully after the death of Freddie Gray, calling for answers about how the 25-year-old Baltimore man died in police custody.

“When individuals get crowbars and start prying open doors to loot, they’re not protesting; they’re not making a statement—they’re stealing,” Obama said. “When they burn down a building, they’re committing arson and they’re destroying and undermining businesses and opportunities in their own communities...”

He added: “That is not a protest, that is not a statement. That is a handful of people taking advantage of a situation for their own purposes.”

Obama said it was “entirely appropriate” that the mayor and governor have taken measures to “stop that kind of senseless violence and destruction,” noting he spoke with both Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Monday.

‘We’re Still Concerned’ About Tuesday Night

Hogan told the media Tuesday afternoon that it took approximately 30 seconds to activate the National Guard once the mayor requested these resources at 6 p.m. Monday, as the state had mobilized its emergency operations command on Saturday anticipating unrest.

“We’re still concerned about what might happen this evening,” Hogan said. “We’re going to put as much manpower and as many resources as we can to make sure that we do not have that kind of situation” again.

The Baltimore Orioles announced at approximately 11:20 a.m. that the team had decide to postpone Tuesday night’s game against the White Sox. Monday night’s game was also canceled. The Orioles will play Wednesday afternoon, the game will be closed to the public.

After Riots, National Guard Swoops In

“Seeing my city like this breaks my heart,” Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Tuesday morning, out surveying the damage in areas most impacted by the damage. “But, like so many Baltimoreans, my resolve is strong. We will not let these deplorable and cowardly acts of violence ruin #OurCity.”

A spokesman for the mayor’s office provided the following statistics from Monday’s riots, according to the Associated Press:

• 144 vehicle fires
• 15 structure fires
• Almost 200 arrests

Some public transportation has been affected by police activity, according to the Maryland Transit Administration, which announced these changes Tuesday: Metro Subway is bypassing the Mondawmin, Penn-North and Upton Market stations on its Johns Hopkins Station route; the local bus is running with diversions, while Mondawmin Station is closed; light rail is operating on schedule.

To keep the peace, National Guard personnel were deployed across the city, including downtown. There were 500 members on hand Tuesday morning, “gearing up for 1,000,” The Baltimore Sun reports.

Hogan, who declared a state of emergency Monday, authorized the National Guard to provide assistance at the request of Baltimore City. “What happened last night is not going to happen again,” Hogan told WNEW.

City schools were closed Tuesday and a curfew is in effect starting from Tuesday, April 28, to Tuesday, May 5. See a list of closings here.

Cleanup Begins

Residents in parts of the city that were damaged have organized cleanups.

Penn North Recovery Center began cleaning at 8 a.m. and had 1,000 volunteers signed up to help picking up after damage in the neighborhoods of Sandtown-Winchester, Mondawmin and Penn North, according to WJZ.

The No Boundaries Coalition was hosting a cleanup at 10 a.m. Pennsylvania Avenue at North Avenue.

Once citizen created a spreadsheet where volunteers can find out which locations need help.

Free Food for Police, Service Members

While some restaurants have closed because of the turmoil, other Baltimore eateries are offering free meals and other items to police and first responders Tuesday, says the Restaurant Association of Maryland. Some food trucks are driving to their local police department to serve officers.

Restaurants Serving Free Food:
Ammici’s – Free meals for servicemen
Jimmy’s Famous Seafood – Free meals for servicemen
Blue Moon Café - Free breakfast to all police, national guard, fire and emergency personnel
Banditos – Free meals for servicemen
Rope Walk Tavern – Free meals for servicemen
Mother’s Grille – Free meals for servicemen
Bagby Pizza Co – Free meals for servicemen
Hyatt Regency Baltimore – Serving dinner to servicemen 3-7pm
Ryleighs Oyster – free lunch for Servicemen
Red Emma’s – free lunch for city youth
Koopers Chowhound Burger Wagon & Slainte on Wheels – serving Baltimore Police

Screenshots from CBS This Morning/YouTube and YouTube/BBC.

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