Baltimore Mayor Lifts Curfew

By Scott Neuman

Published May 3, 2015 at 9:54 AM CDT

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake speaks during a media availability at City Hall, on Friday. The mayor announced Sunday that she was lifting a week-long 10 p.m. curfew that followed civil unrest over the death of Freddie Gray from injuries he sustained in police custody.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced today that she was lifting a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew in the city imposed nearly a week ago amid civil unrest over the death of Freddie Gray from injuries sustained in police custody.

"I want to thank the people of Baltimore for their patience," she said.

Effective immediately, I have rescinded my order instituting a city-wide curfew.
I want to thank the people of Baltimore for their patience.
— Stephanie (SRB) (@MayorSRB) May 3, 2015

My goal has always been to not have the curfew in place a single day longer than was necessary. I believe we have reached that point today.
— Stephanie (SRB) (@MayorSRB) May 3, 2015

The emergency curfew was put in place after riots that took place in West Baltimore on Monday.

The decision to end the restriction comes after Friday's announcement of criminal charges against six officers involved in Gray's arrest by Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby.

The Baltimore Sun says that a spokesman from Gov. Larry Hogan's office said the Maryland National Guard, which was deployed to the city in the wake of the violence, would be gradually drawn down in the coming days.

Update at 5 p.m. ET. Police News Conference

Baltimore Police spokesman J. Eric Kowalczyk says since the unrest began that police have made a total of 486 arrests. Saturday night, he said, 46 people were arrested — 42 adults and four minors.

"Over the weekend we've seen peace. Our focus is on asking people to remain peaceful," Kowalczyk said.

Update at 12:50 p.m. ET. Gov. Hogan: City Is Safe

At an afternoon news conference, Hogan — who has appeared at times to be at odds with Rawlings-Blake over the handling of the situation in Baltimore — said, "The mayor and I both talked and we think that it's time to get the community going again."

He said that 1,000 extra police and 3,000 Maryland National Guard personnel had been deployed to Baltimore at the height of the problems and that "it's going to take awhile to get things back together," but added that "I think it's a good idea" to lift the curfew.