It started
Monday morning with word on social media of a "purge" — a reference
to a movie in which crime is made legal. It was to begin at 3 p.m. at Mondawmin Mall, then
venture down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Inner Harbor.
With tensions in the
city running high on the day of Freddie Gray's funeral, police began alerting
local businesses and mobilizing officers.
The University of
Maryland, Baltimore was one of the first institutions to acknowledge law
enforcement concerns. With exams about to begin, school officials abruptly
canceled classes "on recommendation of the BPD."
T. Rowe Price sent
employees home; Lexington Market closed early. One by one, other businesses
shut down.
When 3 p.m. came, 75
to 100 students heading to Mondawmin Mall were greeted by dozens of police
officers in riot gear. The mall is a transportation hub for students from
several nearby schools.
The students began
pelting officers with water bottles and rocks. Bricks met shields. Glass shattered
up and down Gwynns Falls Parkway. Officers sprayed Mace. Confrontations bled
into side streets, where officers threw bricks back. A heavily armored Bearcat
tactical vehicle rolled through the neighborhood.
One officer, bloodied
in the melee, was carried through Westbury Avenue by his comrades. Police used
tear gas to move crowds down the street.
Vaughn DeVaughn, a
city teacher, watched the scene.
"This is about
anger and frustration and them not knowing how to express it," he said.
"Everyone out here looks under the age of 25. I'm out here for them.
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