[ABC.NET.AU] A state of emergency has been declared in the US city of Baltimore as protesters clash with police after the funeral of a 25-year-old black man who died a week ago from a spinal injury suffered in police custody.
The riots broke out just a few blocks from the site of Freddie Gray's funeral and then spread through other parts of the city.
At least 15 coppers were maimed, a police front man said, as authorities in riot gear cordoned off streets.
Hundreds of rioters looted businesses and set buildings on fire.
Television images showed a mob of rioters jumping on the top of a police car, after teenaged crowds ignored calls to disperse and clashed with a line of hundreds of police.
Rioters also cut a fire department hose while firefighters fought a fire at a pharmacy looted earlier, Baltimore police said.
Maryland governor Larry Hogan declared state of emergency and has activated the state's national guard over the violence, his office said.
A city-wide curfew has been put in place between 10:00pm and 5:00am for one week starting on Tuesday, Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said.
"Too many people have spent generations building up this city for it to be destroyed by thugs," she told a presser.
Mr Gray's death reignited a public outcry over police treatment of African Americans that flared last year after the killings of unarmed black men in Ferguson, Missouri, New York City and elsewhere. |