Baltimore Burns as another Racial Crisis Grips America

25-yr-old Freddy Gray died in police custody. Nine days later, as he was laid to rest, his hometown erupted in anger

Baltimore erupted in violence on Monday as hundreds of rioters looted stores, burned buildings and injured at least 15 police officers following the funeral of a 25-year-old black man, Freddie Gray, who suffered a spinal injury while in police custody.

The riots broke out just blocks from the funeral of Freddie Gray and spread through much of West Baltimore. These are the most violent protests against police treatment of African-Americans since arson and gunfire in Ferguson, Missouri, last year.

Here is a snapshot of what’s happening in Baltimore. Watch. 

How Freddie Gray Died

Gray was arrested on April 12 when running from officers. He was transported to the police station in a van, with no seat restraint, and suffered the spinal injury that led to his death a week later. A lawyer for Gray’s family says his spine was 80% severed at the neck while in custody.

Six officers have been suspended, and the U.S. Justice Department is investigating the incident for possible civil rights violations.

Gray’s death reignited a public outcry over police treatment of African Americans that flared up last year after police killings of unarmed black men in Ferguson, New York City and elsewhere.

Emergency Declared

A state of emergency was declared by Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican, who sent in the National Guard, and curfew was imposed in the largely black city from Tuesday night, with exceptions for work and medical emergencies.

Democratic Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake called the looters “thugs” and said they had nothing to do with protests.

Police made at least 27 arrests and Baltimore schools will be shut on Tuesday. An Orioles baseball game was canceled and businesses and train stations shut down in the city of 620,000 people 64 km from the nation’s capital.

Looters sacked liquor stores, pharmacies, a shopping mall and a check-cashing store. Rioters smashed car windows outside a major hotel and twice slashed a fire hose while firefighters fought a blaze at a pharmacy that had been looted before it was set on fire.

All this had to happen, people getting tired of the police killing the young black guys for no reason. It is a sad day but it had to happen.

–Tony Luster, Resident, Baltimore