Children help with the cleaning effort in Baltimore. Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)
A day after the city erupted in looting and destruction, a Baltimore group has organized a clean up on Facebook that attracted more than 2,000 volunteers.
Nineteen buildings and 144 vehicles were set on fire and 202 people were arrested reports Reuters. Fifteen police officers were also injured.
Store owner Rashid Khan and his neighbors were able to clean up his King’s Grocery Mart after an estimated loss of $20,000 to $30,000 in stolen goods and damages. Khan believes people who do not live in the neighborhood caused the destruction because he hasn’t worried about his property during any of the time that he has owned his West Baltimore store.
Other community efforts have been made via Facebook to help remove debris and repair business damages after Monday’s riots. The Facebook event organizers requested helpers to: “Bring heavy duty trash bags, gloves, brooms, dust pans, trash cans, containers, and anything else that would help. We’ll have a van ready to take trash to the drop-off center in Remington. Post locations that could benefit from the effort.”
Yesterday, the City of Baltimore erupted in riots after days of peaceful protest in response to the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray. Gray, whose funeral was yesterday, died in police custody after he suffered severe spinal cord injury. His family also noted his voice box was crushed before he fell into a coma and died. Gray encountered the police on April 12, running away when he encountered them. Once the police caught him, they found a switchblade and arrested him. Anthony Batts, the Baltimore Police Commissioner, says the police failed to get him adequate medical attention in a “timely manner” and failed to buckle Gray into the police van in safe manner. On the way to the police station, the police van made three stops.
According to CNN, at the first stop he was placed in leg irons and by the third stop, eyewitnesses say Gray was on the floor of the van asking for medical help when a second person was placed back there with him. Gray ultimately made it to the hospital, but he slipped into a coma and died a week later. Blocks away from Gray’s funeral, rioting broke out in the West Baltimore neighborhood and police vehicles and businesses were seen being torched.
As various community members and churches organize to revitalize the West Baltimore neighborhood, the Associated Press reports that President Obama, speaking from the White House, remarked that there’s “no excuse” for the violence that occurred and encouraged everyone to remember looters are not protesters, labels that often become synonymous during riots.
To guard against further destruction, school was canceled for today and a 10pm curfew has been implemented. The hashtag #BaltimoreUprising is trending, comprised of tweets from both the media, onlookers, protesters and organizers.
