Timeout, not playtime – Friday, May 1st

Here’s where we are Friday morning:

Almost 3 weeks after Freddie Gray’s fatal encounter with Baltimore Police, the department handed off the results of their investigation to the State’s Attorney yesterday.

The report hasn’t been made public, but sources close to the investigation confirm that Gray suffered catastrophic head injuries in the police van.

Donda Allen, the second prisoner loaded a separate part of the police van later in Gray’s transport, surfaced to deny a leaked document that implies Gray was trying to injure himself (VIDEO). Allen says that he told investigators that he could hear some banging from Gray’s side – but that he doesn’t believe Gray was trying to hurt himself.

Meanwhile, the city-wide curfew continues. The heavy, uneven police and National Guard presence remains.

Police Commissioner Anthony Batts, defending the ongoing curfew: “This is not playtime.”

The curfew, imposed by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, is taking a significant toll on local workers and businesses that will only be exacerbated with a locked-down weekend. Even outside of curfew hours, many events planned for the weekend, including the Baltimore Farmers’ Market, have cancelled or rescheduled.

Has the curfew and state-of-emergency policing done anything to stop violence in struggling neighborhoods? Nope. Five people were shot on Thursday, and six have died since the National Guard rolled in on Tuesday.

Several major demonstrations are being planned for today and this weekend.

One person you won’t see at the protests? Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

In her words that she will eventually walk back“I’m not going to risk inserting myself — you know, it might look good to some people — but I’m not going to insert myself in a situation that we know is potentially hostile and very fragile, when I have leaders like Elijah Cummings and Senator Pugh who are willing to stand in and do that work that needs to be done.” Leaders: doing the work that needs to be done.