The city of Baltimore, Maryland has been sitting on the edge of its seat since Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African American, was killed by cops from making eye contact with an officer and running away from six officers.
Since that incident, Baltimore has had 270 homicides this year.
NY Times reporter Sheryl Gay Stolberg said that, “nearly 100 people have been murdered in Baltimore in the last three months alone, eight in the last week.”
Mayor Rawlings-Blake, who is not running next year, fired the last police commissioner in July, four months after Gray was murdered.
Rawlings-Blake told NY Times that she wanted to focus on the “the city’s future, and not my own.”
A new police commissioner, Kevin Davis, has been elected.
Since the political unrest started, crime rates have soared, and tourism has gone down, leaving the city’s economy struggling.
Baltimore protesters have had numerous rallies to support the Black Lives Matter campaign, which tries to combat police violence.
Protesters disrupted the council hearing where council members elected Davis as police commissioner, and held a sit-in on the balcony, which had been closed due to safety concerns.
16 protesters were arrested after not leaving the balcony when police told them to.
Reporter Kevin Rector of the Baltimore Sun said, “Protesters want change within the police system. [They are asking for]a less forceful approach to protests in the city.”