The mayor of US city of Baltimore has lifted a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew imposed after days of violence and unrest sparked by the death in police custody of a black man, Freddie Gray.
Effective immediately, I have rescinded my order instituting a city-wide curfew. I want to thank the people of Baltimore for their patience.
— Mayor Rawlings-Blake (@MayorSRB) May 3, 2015
My goal has always been to not have the curfew in place a single day longer than was necessary. I believe we have reached that point today.— Mayor Rawlings-Blake (@MayorSRB) May 3, 2015
A surprise announcement on Friday that the six police officers involved in Gray’s arrest and subsequent death had themselves been arrested helped diffuse the situation.
Later on Friday night a group of protesters who violated the curfew to celebrate news of the officer arrests were reportedly beaten by police and arrested.
On Saturday afternoon hundreds of people gathered at a rally to praise the decision by the Baltimore state prosecutor to arrest the officers involved in Gray’s death: one on the charge of murder and the five others on lesser crimes.
#PHOTO: Nearly 2,000 March for #OneBaltimore. The student-led March is the largest one the city has seen pic.twitter.com/4R78yNc9AT
— Sonia Dasgupta (@SoniaDasgupta) April 29, 2015