Those who didn't follow Baltimore's 10 p.m. curfew--after the police commissioner announced it would stay in effect for a fifth day Saturday--were met by police with cuffs and pepper spray at the ready.
Although Police Commissioner Anthony Batts declared that the curfew would continue in the city still scarred from the fires and looting that occurred earlier this week, some demonstrators stayed out in the streets.
But police quickly got to work to enforce the curfew, arresting people. Reporters on the ground noted some protesters were pepper sprayed.
Police have cleared Penn Ave & W North of protesters. Sting of pepper spray in the air. #Baltimore— Abigail Hauslohner (@ahauslohner) May 3, 2015
Another man is carted off to ambulance after scuffle with police, sprayed in the eyes, #BaltimoreCurfew #FreddieGray pic.twitter.com/SMaqGqZbcy— Christie Ileto (@Christie_Ileto) May 3, 2015
Batts said earlier in the evening that the curfew would not be lifted because "the violence of last Monday was unprecedented for this city...tonight we see some of the same people of Baltimore that were here last Monday.
Although some at the epicenter of where protesters have gathered in recent days--North and Pennsylvania avenues--were defiant about breaking the curfew, their counterparts elsewhere possessed calmer demeanors.
Capt. Richard Gibson says diplomacy won tonight in Hampden. pic.twitter.com/IoqV6ObwwU— Arelis R. Hernández (@arelisrhdz) May 3, 2015
With the curfew in place, protests for Freddie Gray have continued throughout the week, but they have not devolved into chaos as they did Monday. In fact, demonstrators have taken to policing themselves. Gray died last month after he sustained serious injuries in police custody.
Six Baltimore police officers were charged this week with multiple offenses from false imprisonment to manslaughter to murder related to his death. On Monday, a rally for Gray spun into a riot, which left a trail of destruction and resulted in hundreds of arrests.
But some have called for an end to the curfew. Others have also criticized the lengthy stay of the state's National Guard. After Batts announced that the status-quo would continue, Major Gen. Linda Singh of the Maryland National Guard tried to convince Baltimore residents that the military officers were not there to spook citizens.
"We are not here to stay in the manner that you think we are, in terms of the military," she said. "We are here to stay as community and citizens of the community because many of us live here and work here as i continue to reiterate that."
UPDATED 12 a.m. ET, May 3, 2015 to include details post-curfew.