How Baltimore Riots Unfolded: Mayor Twice Told Gov. Hogan National Guard Was Unnecessary

Maryland National Guard Troops did not enter the flaming city until nearly nine hours after the start of the Baltimore riots, which injured over a dozen police officers. A few minutes before midnight Tuesday, which is just before the National Guard arrived, city police commissioner Anthony Batts admitted that his officers were not prepared for the level of violence.

“Yes, we planned for it. That wasn’t the issue,” Batts told reporters late Monday. “We just had too many people out there [for us] to overcome the numbers we had.” The commissioner also said that the rioters had stretched his force to “opposite ends of the city” and “outnumbered us and outflanked us.”

The violence, which resulted in widespread looting, vandalizing and burning of dozens of vehicles and businesses, began hours after the funeral for Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old man who died last week from a spinal cord injury he suffered either before or while in police custody. A joint investigation between state and federal officials is underway to determine just that.

Gray’s family denounced the rioting and violence late Monday, saying it was not the way to honor their loved one.

“I think the violence is wrong,” Grays twin sister, Fredericka Gray, said. “I don’t like it at all.”

Gray’s mother made similar public statements, but they unfortunately had no impact on the destructive events many now claim were telegraphed and could have been prevented, or at least minimized if handled differently.

Multiple city and state government sources have told PPD that various intelligence beforehand indicated that riots were inevitable and that Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake twice told Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan Monday that a National Guard presence was unnecessary.

“We can only imagine she didn’t want a repeat of the initial response in Ferguson, but that was not one of our concerns,” a state administration official close to the governor told PPD. “From Saturday to Monday we offered the mayor the necessary resources, but it was taken as an unwelcome presence in the city.”

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-MD, and about 200 others, marched arm-in-arm through a battered neighborhood Monday in an attempt to calm the violence. The congressman, accompanied with religious leaders, said the protestors’ grievances were valid and that those starting riots were from out of town. That’s not nearly close to the truth, as data miners have identified some 50 social media accounts involved in the Baltimore riots that were also involved in organizing what turned into the Ferguson riots.

Yet, Mayor Rawlings-Blake allegedly told the governor that she had been in contact with President Obama and had already decided on a course of action. The two also discussed the statement from Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who said she would send Justice Department officials to the city in coming days, including Vanita Gupta, the agency’s top civil rights lawyer to investigate Gray’s death for potential criminal civil rights violations.

Meanwhile, Gov. Hogan had first taken steps to prepare for violence on Saturday after thousands of so-called protestors outside of the Red Sox-Orioles game grew increasingly violent and racially charged. City officials temporarily shut down Camden Yards to prevent protestors from attacking white fans exiting the game.

Then, on Sunday police learned of a “credible threat” from three gangs known for their violence, who decided to work together to “take out” law enforcement officers. On Monday, officials made public that the Black Gorilla Family, Bloods and Crips all had “entered into a partnership to take out law enforcement officers.”

Law enforcement and city officials, including the mayor, became aware of an online flyer that went out Monday calling for a “purge” that would begin at the Mondawmin Mall in west Baltimore and end downtown. “Purge” is a reference to a movie that legalizes all criminal activity for one day each year in America, resulting in rioting and mass murder.

Police were dispatched to the location, which serves as a transportation hub for students attending area schools and is less than a mile from where Gray was arrested on April 12.

But the police were overrun as the riots grew in intensity. Gov. Hogan finally declared a state of emergency and activated the Guard shortly after 6:00 P.M. ET Monday night following several earlier phone calls with Mayor Rawlings-Blake, who had assured the governor multiple times earlier in the day that the situation was under control.

While the police response at times included tear gas and Mace, it was minimal. They relied on line formations that were ultimately ineffective at protecting businesses and property.

“Ask the mayor,” one Baltimore City police officer we spoke to on the phone today said when asked why the response was so inadequate. “We just follow orders from city hall.”

And we did ask her just that. However, as of this afternoon, PPD has yet to receive a response from the mayor or her special assistant.