Citywide curfew in Baltimore finally lifted

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Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake officially lifted the citywide curfew on Sunday. The Maryland National Guard is in the process of withdrawing its forces and shoppers returned to Mondawmin Mall which had been temporarily shut down after looting. The mayor and Governor Larry Hogan stated that they agreed the curfew had outlived its purpose two days before it was set to expire. Restaurants, bars and the American Civil Liberties Union had put in a request to end the curfew early, which some residents considered to be unevenly enforced. The curfew had been in place since Tuesday, after violence and looting overtook much of West Baltimore amid anger over the April 19 death of Freddie Gray. The curfew required all Baltimore residents to stay indoors between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. Rawlings-Blake said she kept the curfew in place out of concern that Saturday protests (led by out-of-town activists) would turn violent. Hogan roughly calculated that about 200 businesses were vandalized during the violence. Economist Anirban Basu CEO of the Sage Policy Group, estimated businesses lost tens of millions of dollars due to the curfew. And the loss of several Orioles games cost the local economy as much as $10 million. But the biggest hit will likely come in the long run. Police arrested forty-six people for violating the curfew Saturday night. Since April 26, the police have made almost 500 arrests linked to the riots. Curfews for youth ages fourteen and under remain in place because they are permanent city policy.

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