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You may recall that earlier this year, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake was named President of the US Conference of Mayors for her outstanding work in serving the people of her city and demonstrating innovation in turning things around. As part of that process, she decided to summarily fire Police Commissioner Anthony Batts back in the beginning of July. To say the least, I expressed some reservations about the move, particularly considering that most of the questionable tactics employed by the cops during the Freddy Gray riots were handed down from City Hall. But who am I to second guess the...

The defense attorneys for the six Baltimore cops charged in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray made two explosive claims in a court motion filed on Thursday. According to The Baltimore Sun, the officers’ attorneys are claiming that the office of Baltimore city state’s attorney Marilyn Mosby has evidence that the 25-year-old Gray had “attempted to injure himself” in police custody prior to his April 12 arrest. They also claim that Mosby had a “private meeting” with the medical examiner who conducted Gray’s autopsy days before the report was released. Mosby’s office has failed to turn that evidence over...

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Baltimore reached a grim milestone on Friday, three months after riots erupted in response to the death of Freddie Gray in police custody: With 43 homicides in July, the city has seen more bloodshed in a single month than it has in 43 years. The 43rd recorded homicide was Jermaine Miller, 18, who was shot in the head just before noon the day before.

Prosecutors have information indicating that Freddie Gray "attempted to injure himself" during a previous arrest, but have intentionally withheld it from their criminal case against the six Baltimore police officers charged in Gray's apprehension and death in April, the officers' attorneys said in a court filing Thursday.. "Based upon information and belief, the State's Attorney's Office was informed of this fact, yet failed to disclose to the Defendants any statements, reports, or other communications relating to this information," they wrote. Gray, a 25-year-old Baltimore man with a history of arrests, died in April after suffering a severe spinal cord injury...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has refused to reverse its denial of disaster aid to help Maryland and Baltimore recover millions of dollars in costs stemming from rioting in the city in April, Gov. Larry Hogan's office said Thursday. FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate said in a letter to the Republican governor Wednesday that after thoroughly reviewing Hogan's appeal, the agency had reaffirmed its June 12 finding that a major disaster declaration is "not appropriate for this event."

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has announced plans to immediately shut down a "deplorable" Baltimore jail that was the focus of a federal corruption investigation. Hogan said at a press conference Thursday that the state would save $10 million to $15 million a year by closing the "deplorable" Baltimore City Detention Center. It houses hundreds of inmates awaiting trial or serving short sentences. Current employees and inmates will be reassigned to other facilities.

(CNN) - Baltimore's deputy state's attorney, who is prosecuting the six police officers for the in-custody death of Freddie Gray, once represented the victim in an unrelated 2012 criminal case, court documents show Thursday. The connection is made in a new filing by the defense attorneys for the officers charged in Gray's death, who raise the issue to argue that Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby's office should recuse itself from the case, citing a conflict of interest. The documents include a letter dated September 11, 2012, from the Office of the Public Defender addressed to Jan Bledsoe, informing her that...

BALTIMORE —Fourteen people were shot, including three fatally, since Friday night in Baltimore City, police said. The most recent homicide occurred around 7:45 p.m. Sunday when a man was shot multiple times in the chest in the 5500 block of Rubin Avenue. Police said the man was taken to an area hospital, where he died. Anyone with information on this case is asked to call police at 410-396-2100. A 22-year-old man was found shot in the buttocks around 11:40 p.m. Sunday in the 4300 block of Adelle Terrace. Police said the shooting took place in the unit block of South...

Fifteen donated firearms lay on a table inside the Baltimore Urban League Center. A total of 17 weapons were anonymously exchanged for laptops provided by Street Geeks of Baltimore. Following the collection, the weapons will be destroyed by the Baltimore Police Department. As the lyrics of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" echoed through the wooden rafters of the historic Orchard Street Church on Saturday, Richard Wilson stood in a line waiting to pick up a Google Chromebook computer in exchange for turning in a gun to Baltimore police.. The 66-year-old Windsor Mills resident grew up attending services at the church...

I watched this cable channel program yesterday. Somehow I do not recall my history teachers, teaching about the Muslim hatred for Chistians. But then again I went to public schools. "The hundred and nine men, women and children abducted by Murat Reis were at sea for nearly forty days. GERALD O’BRIAN "They left Baltimore 4pm on June 20th 1631 and they arrived in Algiers on July 28th 1631, and as far as we know, everybody survived the crossing." Some would wish they were no longer alive. For them the harbour entrance of Sale was the gate to a world of...

July 25, 2015Team Mosby Gnashes Teeth, Stomp Feet, Threaten To Seek Sanctions Against Defense Team… sundance Baltimore State Attorney Marilyn Mosby has previously, and hypocritically, stated she doesn’t want to argue the merits of her case in the court of public opinion. Of course she customarily does this in interviews with media who report to the venue of public opinion.Keeping with this tradition, her office now tells the media about a ridiculous legal filing they are considering, claiming the defense team is calling them names, or something…BALTIMORE – Prosecutors plan to seek sanctions against the defense attorneys for six Baltimore...

Baltimore’s hotel business is slumping this summer, just a year removed from a banner season for tourism and reflecting the lingering impact of April’s riots. Hotels in downtown’s central business district posted an average occupancy rate of 73.3 percent in June, down from 82.5 percent in the year-ago month, according to data from travel research firm STR Inc. The occupancy rate in May dropped 17.1 percent to 64.7 percent. As colleague Camille Harrison and myself reported in Friday’s cover story of the BBJ, hotels aren’t the only businesses feeling the sting from the riots. Museums and attractions are struggling, and...

BALTIMORE, Md. - Baltimore police are investigating the second triple shooting in the city within 24 hours after three shooting victims walked into an area hospital. Officers responded to a local hospital Wednesday night where medical staff directed them to three men suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Two of the victims, ages 21 and 29, had injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening. A third victim had a gunshot wounds to the chest and was listed in critical condition Thursday morning. Detectives determined that the three men were shot in the 2000 block of N. Forest Park Avenue in...

During a July 23 press conference, House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)(D-CA-12th) suggested the problem with sanctuary city policies isn’t the sanctuary aspect but the continued the access to guns. An unidentified reporter asked Pelosi if she supports the current GOP push to force cities to comport with immigration laws, and Pelosi made clear that she does not. She then explained her opposition by making nameless references to the July 1 murder of Kathryn Steinle–allegedly shot to death by illegal alien Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez on San Francisco’s Pier 14–and argued that sanctuary cities are not the problem. Pelosi said:...

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Wednesday that she and other city leaders are still not sure who ordered state-run buses and a subway to be shut down the day rioting broke out near Mondawmin Mall.. "There's still some confusion about where the order came from," Rawlings-Blake said. "It definitely came in real time from the ground at Mondawmin." Some, including local teachers, have suggested that the decision to shut down public transportation near the mall April 27, the day of Freddie Gray's funeral, escalated tensions because students were stranded with no ride home from school. Rioting later erupted across the city....

At least 10 people were killed or found dead under suspicious circumstances since 3 p.m. Friday afternoon across Chicago. Among the dead were the decomposing bodies of a mother and her three children found in an East Chatham home with evidence of trauma and a fire that was never reported, and three men dead in a double-murder-suicide in the Mayfair neighborhood Friday afternoon. Thirty-five people were also wounded in shootings as far north as the Albany Park neighborhood and as far south as Roseland. Some of the wounded were in critical condition. No side of the city was without a...

A judge has denied the request of State's Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby to keep attorneys in the Freddie Case from publicizing evidence before the trial. Mosby, who is prosecuting six police officers in Gray's death, wanted a court hearing to argue for a protective order that would bar the release of any evidence — or, if the officers' attorneys agreed, to post all of it online. Mosby said she was concerned that the defense attorneys would leak only evidence that supported their clients' defense, jeopardizing the ability to conduct a fair trial.

Justin Fenton ✔ @justin_fenton MayorSRB on riots "lasting only a few hrs": "There's a lot of cities that would love to have that record" pic.twitter.com/zP4LCYGd8c Nelson Vasconcelos @nvasconcelos @justin_fenton "OK let me watch the video it must be different in context HOLY CRAP THAT'S TOTALLY WHAT SHE MEANT" Baltimore Sun crime reporter Justin Fenton posted a rather amusing video of Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake earlier this morning where she defends her leadership of the city during the Freddie Gray riots in April.According to the mayor, you see, she did a really good job because the riots only occurred for “few hours...

Three of six Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray argued in court filings this week that they provided statements to police investigators under duress because they feared losing their jobs. Two of the officers said that when investigators asked them to provide statements about the circumstances surrounding Gray's arrest, they were led to believe they were doing so as witnesses — not as suspects.

Police said this week's investigation began when they were called about 2:26 a.m. Monday to the intersection of Hillen and Forrest streets, just south of East Monument Street, where a man said he was just robbed at gunpoint by two men in a gray SUV. Soon after, an officer spotted the vehicle parked in the 2300 block of E. Monument and saw men dart inside the Safe Streets office. When officers eventually raided the office, they found guns, heroin, cocaine, and other items used in the manufacturing and sale of drugs, including cutting agents and scales, police said.