a city in turmoil. violence gripped the streets. maryland's governor declared a state of emergency and called in the national guard to help calm it down. rioters looted stores and set fires and fought with police officers after the funeral of freddie gray the african-american man that died in police custody. we are awaiting a police press conference in baltimore, which we'll go to as soon as it begins let's go in the meantime to adam may in baltimore. a powerful moment was when community faith leaders marched

together. >> faith leaders were together trying to see what they could do to bring the calm to the community. they lined up on bolton avenue which intersects with north avenue and this intersection 3-4 blocks away is the scene of a lot of violence. the faith leaders lined up and marched into the heart of where a lot of this rioting and looting took place. they start to sing songs, they prayed. as they walked the streets, you can hear the blast under their feet. you can look off to the side. smoke is rising into the air, and fires burning. people walking down the streets, holding bags of goods that did not appear to belong to them. folks that had been looting and rioting, and. leading the charge. leading it was representative from maryland a leader in the

black caucus and he walked right up. there was a couple of hundred officers standing there with the shields, and the congressman walked up to the police department member and met and shook hands. the whole line of faith leaders marched up the street as if to sweep the streets and urge people to go home. that was a moving moment. this has not stopped. just a couple of minutes ago they wrapped up a meeting where they spoke with freddie gray's family and leaders of the bloodstainses and crips gang standing together calling for a calm night, where you an interesting groups coming together saying it is time to stop. it is quietening down a little bit. not as much activity as before.

police helicopters are buzzing overhead. the mayor speak and said this is one of the darkest days in baltimore history. >> it is. >> adam may, thank you. we are still awaiting a police news conference. in the meantime we'll go and stay in baltimore but switch to sharon black, a volunteer, a group founded after the death of trayvon martin. good to have you with us. this video footage depicted a city in chaos, rocks, debris thrown at police police cars, businesses on fire other acts of violence. what are your thoughts on the scene in baltimore as you had been outside speaking to the people involved? >> i think what the viewers have to understand or what they are witnessing is the rage and frustration of the young people in the city.

who the root causes of rage have not been addressed, unemployment daily abuse, racism all the things that are placed. they feel anger and frustrated. this is the outcome that we were noticing. this is what we were seeing. in many ways we have likened baltimore to an outdoor present, in some ways we compare it for gaza if you go to the east or the west you see a heavy police presence. there's one cop for every two people in the city. it's like a police state. when we were at the protest... >> let me interrupt you. >> no problem. >> the police are beginning the press conference let's listen in. >> we have information yesterday that at the mall we'll have a purge of high school students from across the city move to mondomin mall. we are close to about 250 to 300

police officers staged in or around mondomin mall at the time youth got out of school. they congregated on the north side of the mall. we moved platoons to the area. officers started sustaining cinder brick damage stones thrown at them. the officers proceeded to push the utes youth in a northerly direction. the officers were on an incline. an officer was injured, hit in the head. he is better. an officer had the left kneecap damaged. shock and drama. -- trauma. two more officers down. all okay but sustained heavy damage in the bodies by applying rocks, sticks bottles, anything what it appears to be

high school students in the school system what they did out there in the streets. as the officers proceeded to push them out of that area they moved down to the area of the north, where them and others attacked a police car. broke out the windmill. stomped on it. i think you have information on that. concerned we had an officer trapped in the vehicle, they moved themselves and had shelter in place in a store, were able to get resources down there to push that crowd away from that area. they ended up south at pincy. in north street. you see that they started to ransack c.b.s. in criminal acts of vandalism and taking out property. we were able to assemble out of town resources to get up there in a rapid manner and we took that corner back and made sure

the mall was stabilized we moved the resources down to pinsy. and others from the south northward to pinsy and took the intersection back. we pushed in a westbound direction. more looting was taking place west of that area. we moved a large contingent. we had close to 500 600 police officers moving in that direction. i was pleased and surprised we had ministers that came out with congress men. trying to calm the area and the young people in the community that was totally destroying the places they have to live. and tomorrow they have to go to the same stores they tore apart. the stores burnt down and damned are the same infrastructure that people have to survive with in that neighbourhood in the next month, two months, three months. after that we this trouble at lexington market. we responded approximately about

50 officers - excuse me it's been a long day - we sustained that. there wasn't much damage. there was reports of looting at the monument. we are seeing car fires and a number of street fires basically in pennsylvania fulton area the cornerstone of the problem the vast majority of the day. they are the key points. i think we are still getting control. pinsy area. modomon mall is secure. we this break ins there, we responded officers there, we had a number of arrests. we had most of the officers in the hospital or doing better. for the vast majority the city

is calming down. i reported a fire at the monument. i'm disappointed in what has happened in this beautiful city tonight. i'm disappointed in the fact that the damage has been done to the communities, and we could not be more responsible in the embarrassment we have nationwide in the community. this is not protesting this is not your first amendment right this is criminal acts doing damage to your community that is challenged in some ways and do not need this or be how manied in a way we have to take. i'm proud of the officers sustaining rocks and bottles hit in the head, the courage of standing tall in light of everything. i applaud the outside acs that support us, montgomery prince george and state police. i appreciate that support. i look forward to having support coming tomorrow from around the region and put out calls to washington d.c. philadelphia.

we had to go through the state to get the numbers up. ment we are getting them coming. we are looking forward to the support. we couldn't get officers from d.c., we have a state to state contact and had to go through state police. >> reporter: how about the national guard, will they come in? >> national guard are on the guard now here within the city. what we use them for is holding structures and fixed posts. when we go to a location we start pushing the direction. we need fixed posts behind us or they retake the areas we push out of. having the assets is good and strong. i heard a question did we plan for it? yes. that wasn't the issue, there was too many out there overcoming the numbers we this to sustain the pressure. >> reporter: the student action and the credible threat...

>> can i do what. >> reporter: are they related? >> from what i know, we have families the bluds and crypts had a meeting, validating a fair fight. they said at the conclusion of freddie gray's funeral each group intended to kill and take out a police officer. >> reporter: should you have given protesters that much room that much latitude over the last few days, and did that in anyway... >> i don't think we gave them much room or latitude on saturday. the protests were peaceful for the vast majority of time until 6 o'clock. there was a group that splintered off. they didn't get reckless or problematic until they got to the north-east corner. we moved resources down in this area to take care of the larger crowd. we addressed them and took them to gaol. we prepared for the corridor. we didn't give them room.

i was there. i saw the reaction and gave them direction to advance on them. they outnumbered and outplanked us. we needed more resources there. >> reporter: did you order them not to respond forcefully or aggressively. >> that's not the case. saturday we were giving them space to have first amendment rights. when they broke window or doing criminality, that's when we changed the stoout to engage them. what we did today is deployed pepper balls because of the bricks and the glass and the stones coming in. and so as we did that it pushed them. with the youth for kids they started running around and rapid managed us. we had to adjust for that why wait until tomorrow for a curfew. >> updated numbers on officers and arrests made. >> i don't have the official numbers, i was told 15 were injured, six seriously. shock, trauma - i saw.

i went over and saw six officers in shock trauma, talked to them told them how proud i was and how courageous they were to stand tall for a city as a hole. we'll get you the numbers later, i don't have them now. you were asking a question. >> reporter: why wait until tomorrow to enact a curfew. >> i think we were overlapping the curfew with national guard being here. it's one to enact a curfew and not being able to enforce it. i'll get back to you, one second. we had shots fired in the north-west distribute. we had a commercial robbery. as officers arrived. a gay ran out, firing shots at officers no one was hit. >> reporter: these are not outsiders, these are high school students. >> these are baltimore youthful residents, a number coming out of the high schools on the other

side of mondomin engaging in this. if you saw, you had a mother who grabbed her child with a hood and smacked him on the head. she was embarrassed. i wish i had more parents taking charge of kids. >> reporter: when you think about it certain high schools ... anthony batts speaking about the situation in baltimore, he said there are a number of incidents ongoing in baltimore. the city is calming down. he said the narted is in baltimore. he gave almost a blow by blow description of what happened throughout the day. the deployment of the police forces. 15 were injured. six seriously. we spoke to sharon black, a volunteer organiser of the people's power assembly. you were talking about police and the relationship of that

community with the police and the problem for decades. we were shown pictures of one of the many incidents today, showing police with shields retreating as people threw rocks, not engaging. have in this case in your opinion, police acted properly? >> we don't thing that they've acted properly i have to tell the viewers that the relationship between the police and young people have been horrendous not just now, but for dick aids. -- decades. freddie gray is the no the first case of murder by the police officers. i can rattle them off from anthony anderson, tyrone west, hutchison hutchison, george king. young people that have been killed and nothing has been done to redress the grievances on this issue of police abuse.

i am concerned about the shaming and demonization of our youth in this city. i mean until the city is willing to... >> aren't you disturbed by how extreme the reaction was, because some of the pictures i saw today, they were disturbing when i saw children. little kids who were out there throwing rocks at police officers, who were involved in a lot of what was going on. >> you can be upset about it but the strong feeling is if you don't address the underlining issues it will not change. volunteer organizers offered medical assistance and were with the youth for a short period before we had to bring them back into the office. unless there's an indictment.

unless there's a conviction and gaoling of the six police you will not see calm in the city. you cap send in the nard -- can send in the national guard and extra police. all you create is a police state. which assist. a protestor held an officer yell "get the ns out of the street." it's like it's a one-sided view. we feel bad that young people will be blamed for this. i got to tell you, some of us went to gaol on civil disobedience to get the mayor to listen over a year ago after the trayvon martin demonstrations. we asked and voted, there were 10,000 people in the scare, what is the issue impacting people racism police brutality, joblessness or closing of rec centers, and we vowed to try to get the mayor to address the

grievances. two of us went to deliver a letter and we were gaoled. none of this was down. people can feel disturbed, upset, but the frank thing is unless the real route causes of this are addressed, you will not see changes. >> and sadly, this is only going to hurt the community more. businesses that were essential and jobs will go away because of what happened today in the businesses that were looted and burnt. sharon black. people's power assembly good to have your perspective. >> thank you more ahead on the unrest in baltimore, the latest and perspective from ferguson, missouri.

as we have been reporting maryland's governor declared a state of emergency and called in the national guard to calm things down this baltimore. rioters set fire looted stores

and fought with police officers after the funeral of freddie gray an african american man who died. the injuries were sustained while in police custody. joining us is patricia bynes, a democratic woman in ferguson, missouri, where michael brown was shot dead by police sparking weeks of rioting. i want to ask you something i asked the congressman earlier. what should the response be to rioting like we saw today. the response in baltimore was different in ferguson but we saw the same looting and violence. >> correct, yes. there's a lot of monday morning quarterbacking on what happened in ferguson. until you are faced with this situation, you have no idea what you are going to do. i do like the initial police response to give people space, and understand that there are people out there who are peacefully protesting.

and i think that that was a good way to handle things. to try to de-escalate things. i saw earlier, i was captivated and watching all day long while the kids were out of school they weren't able to be on public transportation. things took a bad concern when the police threw back rocks. there's a standard in which we should hold law enforcement. regardless of getting rocks and bricks thrown at them. they have riot shields. in some situations there's almost nothing you can do it's about when things escalate. because of the way i saw the police department handle things, i think that things were not escalate too soon. they had given people opportunity and there was plenty of footage shown of what was going on and i think they handled things as best they

could. >> what do you say to - in ferguson most of the blame was put on the police department because ferguson was a majority african-american, and did not have representation in the police numbers commensurate to their numbers in the police department or city hall. the mayor was white or police officers. that's not the case in baltimore. why is this happening? >> see, i have been saying from the beginning, it's not about - it's not all about the colour of your police department or council. it's not all about rice. the reel underlying problem is the abuse of police power and the abuse of police authority,

the judges and some of that doesn't have to do with the colour of the people in those oppositions. >> does it justify the response. it's so damaging to the community. >> we are talking about not the colour of the justice system or the police. it's about the colour of the people who are racially profile. this is a response. this is what happens when there's generations of oppression that continues. i want to get in a final question. what is the response for what you see in baltimore. >> there are some people that

cannot stomach what is going on and we pray for the community and families and elected officials, and hope that they don't make the same mistakes that have been made in ferguson and they have a better outcome. >> it's been peaceful so far, there has been no protests. >> there was mild protests this seasoning that was taking police in solid arty with freddie gray. clearly nothing that is happening in baltimore now. >> thank you for joining us tonight. >> the unrest in baltimore came on the same day as the newest attorney-general was sworn in. reaction from her and president obama to the day's violence, next.

president obama has been monitoring the event in baltimore from the white house, on the same day that loretta lynch was sworn in as attorney-general. mike viqueira has more. >> hours, if not moments after being sworn in as the newest attorney-general the first african-american woman faces her major challenge on the streets of baltimore. we understand attorney-general loretta lynch met at the white house.

scheduled as a courtesy call to check up on the first day on the job. it turned into a briefing on the situation in baltimore. attorney-general lynch telling obama about what the justice department is doing. there's an ongoing investigation after the death of freddie gray wanting to see and waiting to see, discussing what they can do to diffuse the situation. >> as for president obama, he woke with stephanie rawlings-clarke, offering assistance that the government could provide. valerie jar et the president's confidante. spoke before the national guard was activated. according to the mayor, they'll work with the baltimore police over the course of the next hours or days and speaking with representatives of elijah cummings from baltimore and has a high profile role.

>> thank you. we'll close with the latest from baltimore. hunt dreads of people have been on the streets for hours looting businesses and setting cars on fire. a series of clashes was described between large groups on the streets. the violence followed the funeral for freddie gray. who died after being injured while in police custody. the national guard is in the city to keep the piece. peace. tomorrow a curfew will go in effect in baltimore. we'll follow all the developments and bing you a wrap tomorrow morning. i'm antonio mora thank you for joining us. for the latest head to aljazeera.com. foreign news next on aljazeera.com. have a good night.

thousands flee the nepalese capital as the country struggles to recover after a deadly earthquake hello, welcome to al jazeera, live from the hours in doha. i'm elizabeth puranam. also ahead - a state of emergency in the u.s. city of baltimore after protests hours after the funeral of a black man who died in police kustie united nations condemns water strikes on u.n. facilities