Public officials appeal for calm in Baltimore as state of emergency is delcared

Officials in Baltimore and Washington have appealed for calm as riots and looting erupted in Baltimore in the wake of Monday's funeral for Freddie Gray, who died in police custody last week. 

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has condemned the violence and declared a state of emergency. A week-long curfew will take effect beginning at 10 p.m. Tuesday. The National Guard has been deployed, following a request from Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, and police reinforcements have been brought into the city to restore order. "Too many people have invested in building up this city to allow thugs to tear it down," the mayor said on her Twitter account. A baseball game between the Orioles and the White Sox was also postponed indefinitedly.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who was sworn into office Monday morning, also condemned "the senseless acts of violence" erupting across the city. She also added that "the Civil Rights Division and the FBI have an ongoing, independent criminal civil rights investigation into the tragic death of Mr. Gray."

Congressional Black Caucus Chair G.K. Butterfield said in a statement, "We understand people are angry and that the community is upset, but violence only distracts us from the justice we seek. Violence does not lead to justice." You can read the CBC's full statement here.

Maryland's Senior Senator Barbara Mikulski (D) also appealed for calm. "Violence is unacceptable no matter who does it ... The vast majority of Baltimore's citizens are law abiding," she said."