Baltimore Protesters Continue to Loot, Set Fires and Clash with Police – LIVE UPDATES

By Andrew DesiderioApr 27th, 2015, 6:03 pm
 

[Note: Mediaite will continue to update this post. Check back for new information, and watch the live streams below.]

Protests in Baltimore over the death of Freddie Gray in police custody earlier this month have been escalating in recent days, and became increasingly violent on Monday afternoon. Reporters on the ground have pointed out that the latest chaos in the city is not related to the Freddie Gray protests, but instead amounts to random acts of violence and looting.

Over the weekend, demonstrators crowded around Camden Yards, the home ballpark for the Baltimore Orioles, which caused law enforcement officials to, at one point, prevent people from leaving the ballpark until protests dispersed. The Orioles are supposed to play the Chicago White Sox on Monday evening at 7 p.m. ET. [UPDATE: The game has been postponed, per the Orioles Twitter account.]

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. Over the weekend, a reporter was attacked and robbed by a group of demonstrators, while a photojournalist was roughed up and knocked to the ground by a group of police officers. Fox News anchor Shepard Smith likened these conflicts to those between the Palestinians and Israelis.

As of this writing, cars are being set on fire and local stores are being looted and vandalized. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has put the National Guard on alert as nightfall approaches in the city:

The White House is also on alert:

UPDATE — 7:02 p.m. ET: Hogan has declared a state of emergency and has activated the National Guard, according to a statement released by his office.

UPDATE — 8:21 p.m. ET: At a press conference, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake called the rioters “thugs” and announced the establishment of a curfew.

Check out some photos and tweets from reporters below:

Watch live stream below, via CBS Baltimore:

Watch live stream below, via NBC News:

[Image via screengrab]

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