Baltimore Police Arrest 35, 6 Officers Injured in Protest

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and a coalition of two dozen interdenominational leaders issued a “call for peace” Sunday after 35 people were arrested and six police officers were injured in protests over the death of Freddie Gray.

The Police Department in the afternoon released a list of the names of the 31 adults arrested, omitting those of the four juveniles.

Despite police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts’ insistence that a minority of out-of-town instigators caused the violence, online court records Sunday showed that only three of those arrested during Saturday’s protests were from outside Maryland.

“While the vast majority of arrests reflect local residency, the total number of arrests does not account for every incident of criminal activity,” police said. “The Baltimore Police Department believes that outside agitators continue to be the instigators behind acts of violence and destruction.”

Rawings-Blake said “outside forces” took advantage of the community’s pain to incite violence. The out-of-towners’ presence was “reflected more than just in the arrest numbers but what we saw on the streets,” the mayor said.

“Many people who weren’t from our community were, in essence, trying to hijack the very raw emotions of some of those who live in Baltimore and were expressing anger over the death of Mr. Gray,” she said. “People from the outside were inciting some of the ‘shut this city down’ sort of messaging, and then just left.”

Multiple storefronts were vandalized and several police vehicles were damaged, police said. Other property damage was reported, but police did not immediately provide further information.

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[Editor’s Note: The videos below are from the weekend’s proceedings.]