BALTIMORE — A pallor reminiscent of an earlier desperate era hung over this city Tuesday as National Guardsmen with rifles and police in riot gear looked on while fire-scarred buildings smoldered, burnt cars were towed away and the rocks hurled by rioters were swept from the streets. The acrid smell of smoke lingered, just as it had in Harlem, Watts, Newark, Philadelphia, Chicago and Washington during the tumultuous 1960s.
Soldiers dressed as if for combat and police in full riot gear patrolled the streets. Sand-colored military Humvees mixed with police squad cars rolling through neighborhoods. Merchants and neighbors cleaned up shattered stores and streets strewn with debris.
By nightfall and a 10 p.m. curfew, there had been no repeat of Monday’s violence, in which dozens of people — many of high school age — pelted police with rocks and bottles, looted several stores, and set things ablaze. Other than a brief flurry of rock throwing that was quashed quickly near the corner where a pharmacy burned Monday, the city was generally subdued and even turned hopeful as a band played in the street and people sang and prayed.
Tuesday night, a line of police behind riot shields hurled tear gas canisters and fired pepper balls at as many as 200 protesters to enforce a the curfew.
Demonstrators threw bottles at police, and picked up the smoke canisters and hurled them back. No immediate arrests or serious injuries were reported, and the crowd was down to just a few dozen people within minutes.
Talk of the rioting supplanted conversation about the controversial death of Freddie Gray after he was taken into police custody April 12, which had been the primary topic of discourse before Monday’s mayhem. The outburst of lawlessness that erupted after his funeral Monday seemed inextricably linked to his death, but city leaders and Gray’s family said it was born out of a more general frustration that found voice in his death.
“It breaks my heart,” Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said, adding that
she regretted calling the rioters “thugs” Monday night.
Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, was less charitable about the rioters Tuesday, calling them “roving gangs of thugs.”
From the White House, President Barack Obama said the violence took away from peaceful protesters who have expressed “real concern and outrage over the possibility that our laws were not applied evenly in the case of Mr. Gray.”
Authorities said about 250 people were arrested during the unrest that began Monday afternoon, and 20 police officers have been injured. They said blanket coverage of what took place provided ample video to identify criminal acts.
With a 10 p.m. curfew in place until next week, the Baltimore Orioles canceled Tuesday night’s game. They said Wednesday’s game will be closed to the public.
State officials said they planned to have 2,000 National Guard troops in the city, augmented by 400 state troopers and police from surrounding communities, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the District of Columbia.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
