Violent protests in Baltimore yielded to calm today, as mourners readied a funeral wake for Freddie Gray, an African American man who died of injuries sustained while in police custody.
Gray, 25, who died one week ago after his spine was nearly severed following his arrest, was to be buried tomorrow in his hometown of Baltimore, less than an hour from the US capital Washington.
A viewing of his body for friends and family was to be held at a local Baltimore funeral home beginning at 1:00 pm local time today.
One day earlier, protesters rampaged through downtown Baltimore, in the latest show of public rage after the death of an unarmed African American by US law enforcement.
Speaking to US television, Congressman Elijah Cummings, who represents the Baltimore district where the violence took place, said he was pleased that the US Justice Department was undertaking a "top to bottom" probe of the city's police department.
"We've got to take this department apart and try to figure out what is wrong and what is right," Cummings told CBS television's "Face the Nation" program.
"This is a significant moment," Cummings said. "If we don't correct this now, it will only get worse."
News reports said the demonstrations drew thousands of protesters, in the biggest show of outrage so far over Gray's death.
Initially, the 90-minute rally at city hall demanding justice for Gray was peaceful.
But the mood shifted dramatically when scores of protesters moved to the vicinity of the city's Camden Yards baseball stadium, scene of an evening Baltimore Orioles-Boston Red Sox game.
Gray's twin sister Fredericka appealed -- in vain -- for calm.
"My family wants to say: Please, please stop the violence. Freddie would not want this," she said amid the violence that led to numerous arrests.
She spoke alongside Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who said she was "profoundly disappointed" by violence she blamed on "a small group of agitators."
Local television footage showed a crowd hurling traffic cones, soda bottles and trash cans at police officers, before randomly smashing store windows, looting merchandise and vandalising police cars.
Street signs were torn down, and one motorist got a rock through her car window, local news media reported.
Targets of the violence also included a convenience store, a Michael Kors fashion boutique, a financial services center and a cellphone shop in Baltimore's landmark Lexington Market.
