Just before 10:30 p.m., with almost no one but reporters remaining, U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings declared the night a successful one for Baltimore.
“We are very proud of what happened tonight,” he said. “We are very, very proud of our folks.”
Appearing with state senator Catherine Pugh and Baltimore councilman Nick Mosby, Cummings sought to assure residents that leaders were focused on the Freddie Gray case and the broader issues that it has brought to light. Of Gray, he said that there are two federal investigations, and he is confident in how the attorney general is handling the matter.
“We will never let that issue die until it’s fully resolved,” he said. Later, he said it was “questionable as to whether” Gray should have been stopped by police, and he alleged that Gray asked for medical attention that he did not get.
Cummings said that the relationship between the African-American community and the police was “the civil rights issue, along with voting rights” of this generation.
Pugh said of the night: “We showed the nation that Baltimore can protect in peace.” She noted that a fist fight that broke out was between two brothers, one who wanted to go home and one who wanted to go elsewhere.
Pugh, too, promised she would “not rest” until a full investigation into Gray’s death was completed, and she promised to put money into west Baltimore to improve life for residents there.
Mosby said the issues facing Baltimore were not unique, but promised of his city: “We’ll get back to normalcy.”