Baltimore Riots: State Roundup

• State and city leaders are vowing to pour resources into Baltimore in an effort to restore peace and rebuild communities in the wake of what so far has been one night of civil unrest. Gov. Larry Hogan, within hours of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake’s request for help from the National Guard, relocated his office to the city, and both leaders spent time touring some of the hardest hit areas. But what remains unclear is whether the rioting and looting that followed the funeral of Freddie Gray is over, Bryan Sears of the Daily Record reports.
• Yet the governor’s capacity to control a freewheeling crisis remained tenuous, as people threw rocks and bottles and police in riot gear braced for confrontations past a 10 p.m. emergency curfew, Paul Schwartzman and Ovetta Wiggins report for the Post.
• Jackie Northam of NPR reports that despite the curfew protesters remained on the streets in Baltimore City until they were dispersed past 10:30 p.m.
• The first full day of the state of emergency in Baltimore City found Gov. Larry Hogan aggressively occupying the city and walking its streets from the wee hours of the morning, and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake pretty much pretending he doesn’t exist, reports Len Lazarick for MarylandReporter.com. Just blocks away, they didn’t appear together, and talked by phone and through aides.

O’MALLEY GETS HECKLED: Wesley Lowery and John Wagner report in the Post that Gov. Martin O’Malley toured West Baltimore on Tuesday but was heckled by several people who contend that his zero tolerance policy toward crime as mayor of the city contributed to the riots. What this view will do to his presidential ambitions is anyone’s guess.

• O’Malley canceled an overseas trip to return to Baltimore to help the city after the riots, according to an AP report in the Daily Record. O’Malley left office in January after serving two terms as governor, the maximum allowed under state law. Before that, he was mayor of Baltimore.

EYES ON MARILYN MOSBY: Two years ago, when former Baltimore City State’s Attorney Gregg Bernstein announced that he would not bring charges against police officers in two high-profile brutality cases, almost all of the reaction and fallout was confined to Baltimore City. But, writes Steve Lash for the Daily Record, with the death of Freddie Gray and Monday’s rioting garnering international attention, all eyes will be on Marilyn Mosby, Bernstein’s successor, whenever she announces whether charges will be filed against any police officers.

ELIJAH CUMMINGS: Sun columnist Dan Rodricks writes, “I don’t know if he could ever stop teenagers from doing stupid and violent things, but, if any man could command attention — and even persuade his fellow citizens to keep the protests of Freddie Gray’s death in the days ahead forceful but peaceful — it’s the 64-year-old congressman who stood front and center to make such a plea Sunday at Bethel AME Church in West. … Elijah E. Cummings has a big voice that streams up from the streets of Baltimore and through his heart.”

FROSH’S DILEMMA: As a state senator, Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh advocated for the presentment of arrested individuals before district court commissioners without undue delay. Now, as the state’s top lawyer, he has been called on to decide just how much time the Constitution permits for presentment when a city’s police force is trying to quell a riot, Steve Lash writes in the Daily Record.

LEGGETT, BAKER ON RIOTS: Montgomery and Prince George’s County Executives Ike Leggett and Rushern Baker expressed their anguish Tuesday over the rioting in Baltimore, with one pledging ongoing assistance and the other reflecting on an opportunity lost, reports Bill Turque in the Post.

OBAMA WEIGHS IN: President Barack Obama, addressing the death of Freddie Gray and subsequent riots in Baltimore for the first time, said Tuesday that the nation must “do some soul searching” about underlying causes of poverty and crime in often-overlooked city neighborhoods, writes John Fritze for the Sun.

GANGS, CITY COUNCIL SIDE-BY-SIDE: Self-identified gang members stood with the Baltimore City Council at City Hall Tuesday to call for an end to the violence and rioting that broke out across the city Monday. Luke Broadwater of the Sun reports that a gang member who identified himself as “Trey” wore a red bandana on his arm. He and another self-described gang member, who also wore a red bandana, said they were “against the violence” and prevented stores from being looted.

OFFICERS FROM ELSEWHERE ARRIVE: Jeremy Arias of the Frederick News Post reports that about 30 Frederick County sheriff’s deputies arrived at Mondawmin Mall just after 3 a.m. Tuesday with riot shields and batons to help quell violent protests. What they found when they arrived, however, was a complete contrast to the wanton destruction and chaos broadcast on national media outlets the night before. By midday, crowds of a different type had arrived at the mall; Baltimore residents toting their own brooms and trash bags to pitch in to clean up.

• Dan Dearth of the Hagerstown Herald Mail also reports that law enforcement officers from Washington County were also sent to Baltimore City to help quell the violence.

PHOTO GALLERIES: Here are roundups and photo galleries from around the state:

• Here’s the Daily Record’s feed of yesterday’s events, including one photo of the cleanup that was shared more than 1,000 times on Twitter and Facebook.
• Photographer Maximilian Franz of the Daily Record offers a post-riot photo gallery of Tuesday in Baltimore City.
• From the Baltimore Business Journal, businesses begin cleaning up.

BUSINESSES ON LOSING SIDE: Baltimore City bars, restaurants and clubs are bracing for thousands of dollars in lost sales as a citywide curfew started Tuesday, James Briggs and Sarah Meehan of the Baltimore Business Journal write. “That’s gonna crush us — on top of the fact that nobody’s going to be downtown for a while, so we’re going to lose all kinds of business for that,” said David Niehenke, the owner of Mick O’Shea’s Irish Pub in Mount Vernon.

• Steve Lash of the Daily Record writes of several businesses that not only lost money to the rioting but also expect to see losses from the curfew.
• Meeting planners canceled a citywide convention that would have brought more than 2,000 visitors to Baltimore later this week following riots that swept through Baltimore on Monday, Sarah Meehan writes in the Baltimore Business Journal. Meanwhile, the American Visionary Arts Museum has canceled its popular Kinetic Sculpture Race scheduled for Saturday.
• The 104-year-old FlowerMart, scheduled for May 1 and 2 in Mount Vernon, has been postponed, organizers said Tuesday. Larry Perl reports the story in the Messenger.
• Fern Shen of Baltimore Brew writes about one North Avenue tavern that has seen its share of trouble, but nothing like the riots.

UMES STUDENTS PROTEST: A number of University of Maryland Eastern Shore students lined up on Route 13 near Princess Anne, joining in with protesters across the state in the aftermath of 25-year-old Freddie Gray’s death in Baltimore last week. Social media began lighting up with #umes and #blacklivesmatter, with pictures from the scene, reports Phil Davis for the Salisbury Daily Times.

ON BALTIMORE: In a city as divided as Baltimore — where there are a lot of hurt and angry people, writes Sun columnist Dan Rodricks — there remains a lot of hope as well.

• Washington Post columnist Petula Dvorak writes of her encounter  with Sandtown-Winchester, the Baltimore community where Freddie Gray lived and was mortally injured while in police custody. During the early stages of the riot, she was bumped and knocked to the ground and her phone was stolen. “But one boy pushed through the crowd and pulled me up, and another came to my other side. ‘We’ll get your phone back. Come over here.’”

OBAMA AIDE SEEKS VAN HOLLEN’S SEAT: A former Obama administration official who sought a General Assembly seat last year said Tuesday he will run for the U.S. House district being left open by Rep. Chris Van Hollen. John Fritze of the Sun reports that Will Jawando, who worked in the Office of Public Engagement at the White House and also the U.S. Department of Education, is the third candidate — and the only African American so far — to enter the contest for the 8th Congressional District.

• Jawando becomes the third Democratic primary contender to officially enter the race, joining Del. Kumar Barve (D-Montgomery) and state Sen. Jamie Raskin (D-Montgomery). Van Hollen is running for the Democratic nomination to succeed the retiring Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D), Bill Turque reports in the Post.