Following the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray, who died April 19 after being injured while in police custody, riots have broken out across Northwest Baltimore. Fifteen police officers were injured as of Tuesday morning, with one of the officers deemed unresponsive at first check. Further updates on the statuses the injured officers have not yet been released. 

Various events have been cancelled and postponed due to the dangerous rioting, ranging from the Baltimore Orioles game to Walter Johnson’s own State Festival for Madrigals and orchestra. John Hopkins University and the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) canceled evening events and classes following the protests. 

According to the New York Post, the riots broke out at the Mondawmin Mall – only a few blocks away from Gray’s funeral site – but quickly spread around the downtown area. Live videos streaming the protests that have been released on social media closely mimic what was seen in the Ferguson riots last year following the deaths of numerous black men by Missouri police.

The majority of the city has been shut down due to the dangers of the riots, which have left building fires and destruction in their paths. Images of mobs throwing bottles, rocks, and bricks at police officers as well as at dozens of businesses, homes and cars have been televised across the nation in one of the largest mob scenes in the Maryland area since the riots of Washington DC following the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.

According to police reports, two of the rioting citizens have been shot in the leg. The female victim was shot on Fulton Avenue and the male was shot about two miles west of the Mondawmin Mall. These incidents were not correlated, and it is unknown how many protesters have been injured in total.

The National Guard was deployed in the city on Tuesday, leaving more than a hundred armed National Guard members around Baltimore’s inner harbor.

“I think peaceful protest is definitely the morally correct way to go, but I think the news is exaggerating how violent the riots really are. The news media tends to focus on the worst of what is going, when most of the protesting is really peaceful. Because police brutality is such an issue I think it’s a good thing that the media is covering it so much, even if maybe it’s in a negative way,” said senior Evelyn Kendix.

Newly appointed US Attorney General Loretta Lynch met with President Barack Obama to discuss the riots in Baltimore on Monday April 27. According to CNN, she said she would be monitoring the situation there.

“As our investigative process continues, I strongly urge every member of the Baltimore community to adhere to the principles of nonviolence. In the days ahead, I intend to work with leaders throughout Baltimore to ensure that we can protect the security and civil rights of all residents. And I will bring the full resources of the Department of Justice to bear in protecting those under threat, investigating wrongdoing, and securing an end to violence,” Lynch said in a statement.

Combined with the riots in Ferguson and New York last year, the Baltimore riots call for the Obama administration to continue to address the racially fueled unrest across the country. The White House has yet to release an official statement surrounding the incidents in Baltimore.

In his official statement surrounding Ferguson last year, President Obama spoke out about the effects of rioting.

“What we need to do is to understand them and figure out how… we [can] make more progress.  And that can be done. That won’t be done by throwing bottles. That won’t be done by smashing car windows. That won’t be done by using this as an excuse to vandalize property. And it certainly won’t be done by hurting anybody,” the President said.

Many feel that this outlook still holds true, even in the case of Baltimore. As the riots continue, the question of what the U.S. can do to fix this issue remains.