Protesters march through Baltimore as demonstrations continue

A large group of protesters rallied in Baltimore Monday to voice outrage over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, at the hands of Minneapolis police.

Various activist groups throughout the city organized marches that launched from various points in the city. The demonstrations converged at City Hall late in the afternoon, and remained peaceful at The Daily Record’s print deadline.

“Do not do anything to put black people in danger,” an event organizer warned via microphone as protesters gathered near the Convention Center. “We had white people from out of town over the weekend … come into fulfill their anarchist fantasies or whatever.”

Baltimore remained the focus of protests in Maryland Monday. Monday’s youth-led demonstration to City Hall from the Baltimore Convention Center remained spirited, but peaceful, as have most of the demonstrations in the city during the last two days.

Marchers Monday took turns chanting slogans like, “This is what democracy looks like,” as they made their way to City Hall. Police were stationed at City Hall, which had barricades in place from the front door to the mall.

Officers, however, wore standard uniforms and were not wearing riot gear as was the case during previous demonstrations.

Meanwhile regional leaders in surrounding counties, including Howard County Executive Calvin Ball and Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman, expressed solidarity with residents outraged by Floyd’s death.

Pittman held an online only event on Monday called “Young and Black in the Age of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and the Coronavirus Pandemic — What is Our Future?” He also held a separate Zoom meeting with African-American residents under 30 called.

“But our response must not be to the anger expressed by the people. That is the cynical act of appeasement, the age-old tactic designed to prevent change. Our response must be to the injustice itself, to the injustices that led to this moment,” Pittman said in a statement. “Those who are kept away from the warmth of the village fire will use that fire to burn down the village. We must share the fire’s warmth.”

Down Interstate 95, large crowds again gathered in Washington Monday, which experienced some of the largest gatherings in the nation during the weekend.

Activists in the nation’s capital directed their ire toward President Donald Trump, who has posted messages on social media that some feel inflamed tensions in the wake of Floyd’s death.

Protests arrived at a particularly stressful time in Baltimore. It’s been a little more than five years after the city endured rioting of its own following the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray from injuries suffered while in police custody.

At the same time Charm City’s economy, which depends heavily on the tourism and hospitality industry, is in a precarious place. The city’s businesses remain largely shutdown by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the city continues grappling with high crime. Voting in the Democratic mayoral primary is also set to close on Tuesday.

Activists also held protests in Baltimore throughout the weekend as violence swept through cities across the nation, including Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Local demonstrations remained comparatively peaceful, but tensions nearly boiled over between police and dissidents Saturday night and early Sunday morning.

“Throughout the day Saturday and into the early morning hours of today, we had a number of people engaged in peaceful protests on the streets of Baltimore,” Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young said Sunday. “I want to sincerely thank the hundreds of protesters who were peaceful. In Baltimore, your right to peaceful assembly will be protected and you have my word on that. My heart broke watching the pain in our country play out in the forms of fires set and images of looting. In Baltimore, yesterday, we were a national example of what it looks like to engage in passionate protesting without widespread breaking of the law.”

During a gathering at City Hall over the weekend, some activists lobbed bottles, and even a hand truck, at police. Protests also spray-painted graffiti on various buildings and shattered windows. Police responded by occasionally dousing parts of the crowd with pepper spray and making 13 arrests.

Throughout the evening activist Kwame Rose and James Bentley, who is a spokesman in the mayor’s office who was at City Hall on his own time, defused potentially dangerous situations, beseeching police to use restraint and confronting protesters committing acts of violence or vandalism.

Police and protesters also engaged in a brief standoff at the intersection of Calvert and Lombard streets after midnight Sunday. Activists tried to block traffic after a window was smashed at the office building at 111 S. Calvert St., and a security guard with a dog confronted protesters.