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03/28/2024 07:50:39 pm

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Baltimore Mayor Denies Stand Down Order

Baltimore Protests

(Photo : REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton) Timeka Patterson holds a sign in support of Freddie Gray, who died following an arrest in Baltimore, at his wake in Baltimore, Maryland April 26, 2015.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake denied on Wednesday that she issued a stand-down directive to police officers, which is raising questions if the alleged order was the reason behind the violence and looting on Monday.

Fox cited a source who insisted the mayor gave such an order, which resulted in city cops being thrown rocks and bottles.

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Rawling-Blake said, "You have to understand, it is not holding back. It is responding appropriately."

It's now a "he said, she said" situation not only between the mayor and the Fox source, but also between Rawling-Blake and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan who suggested she took too long to ask for a declaration of state of emergency.

But the "bickering" of the state and city officials are not that important to Baltimore residents whose are still waiting for answers to questions regarding the root of all the violence in Baltimore - the death of 25-year-old black man Freddie Gray while in police custody.

The city police is scheduled on Friday to turn over the report about the incident to the Baltimore County prosecutor, but they hinted the results may not be made public right away. State Senator Catherine Pugh said that Maryland attorney for the county, Marilyn Mosby, must be given sufficient time to go through the report.

To pressure the city to come up with credible answers, street protests continue to be held in Baltimore. Sympathy protests have also been held in other cities, such as New York, where police arrested on Thursday more than 100 people for disorderly conduct. The protests were held through Manhattan streets that caused gridlock in some areas, reports Reuters.

Other cities where anti-police demonstrations were also held were in Boston, Houston, Ferguson, Washington DC, Seattle and Denver.

In Baltimore, cops have arrested about 270 people since Monday, but over 100 have been released because of the inability of police to cope with the paperwork, said Police Commissioner Anthony Batts.

However, since the 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew was imposed on Tuesday, the city has been more peaceful, partly also because of the deployment of about 2,000 National Guards.

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