Rep. Cummings on Baltimore Riots: ‘We Did Not Expect to Get to This Point’

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) told CNN on Monday evening that he would not have expected the city of Baltimore to descend into chaos on the same day as Freddie Gray‘s funeral.

Cummings condemned the rioters for attempting to take advantage of a chaotic situation and for “distracting from finding solutions to the problem.” Wolf Blitzer pressed him on whether a police presence at convenience stories would have prevented the resulting fires and looting, but Cummings said the police are “spread out” across the city and “slowly but surely getting control of the situation.”

Violence and looting in the city have caused Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan to declare a state of emergency and activate the National Guard. In addition, tonight’s Baltimore Orioles game against the Chicago White Sox has been postponed. This afternoon, news cameras were rolling as a group of at least 30 people swarmed a police cruiser, smashing windows and jumping on top of the car. Fox News anchor Shepard Smith likened these conflicts to those between the Palestinians and Israelis.

Watch live streaming coverage from Baltimore here and follow all the latest developments here.

Watch the video below, via CNN:

[Image via screengrab]

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