Protesters Disperse From Baltimore At Mandated Curfew

BALTIMORE, Md. — Freddie Gray protesters were small in number by the time the 10 p.m. curfew hit in Baltimore Wednesday night. It appears New York City grabbed the lion’s share of protesters, leaving the Maryland protest group little to work with against law enforcement and the National Guard. Aside from some small physical confrontations among protesters themselves, very little fireworks occurred.

Maryland State Sen. Catherine Pugh and Democratic Congressman Elijah Cummings walked through the crowds in West Baltimore telling those who were gathered after curfew to go home.

“We are a peaceful city and let’s show the world who we are — who we really are. Let’s go home. You can go in any direction you want to go. We got about four minutes. Let’s roll. Let’s roll on out of here,” Cummings told the crowd.

“This is our Baltimore and the only way we can show America that we need justice for Freddie Gray and we’re going to be patient and we’re going to make sure he gets the kind of justice he deserves, that you all come out here and demonstrate. We’ve done it better than any other city in the nation,” Pugh said through a bullhorn.

“So let’s keep the peace and let’s keep moving and let America know that we need more economic development coming into our city and we’re going to make that happen,” she continued. “We need the jobs and the job training programs and we’re going to make sure our young people are working this summer. Right now it’s almost 10’o clock and we want to make sure everyone gets home safely.”

By 11 p.m., most civilian crowds had dispersed the West Baltimore staging site.