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Baltimore Riots: US Politicians Call For Peace

Hillary Clinton has joined calls for calm on the streets of Baltimore after riots that saw police targeted by rock-throwing mobs as shops were ransacked and cars torched.

Monday's violence, triggered after the funeral of a black man who died in police custody, saw 15 officers injured and dozens of arrests .

Democratic presidential candidate Mrs Clinton is among a chorus of US politicians urging restraint, tweeting that while Freddie Gray's family had suffered a "tragedy that demands answers", she was "praying for peace and safety".

Martin O'Malley, the former Baltimore mayor who has suggested he might follow Mrs Clinton in seeking the Democratic nomination, said: "I'm saddened that the city I love is in such pain this night."

Possible Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee also spoke out, saying street clashes were no way to express freedom of speech.

Gloria Darden, the mother of 25-year-old Mr Gray, later said at a news conference: "I want you to get justice for my son, but don't do it like this here. Don't tear up the whole city for him. It's wrong."

Also stepping in was David Simon, the creator of US TV shows The Wire and Homicide: Life On The Street, which are both set in Baltimore.

He said the "anger and the selfishness and the brutality" of those rioting in Mr Gray’s name must stop.

"If you can't seek redress and demand reform without a brick in your hand, you risk losing this moment for all of us in Baltimore," he wrote on his blog. "Turn around. Go home. Please."

Meanwhile, US business tycoon Donald Trump has attacked the way police handled the rioters. He tweeted: "Blatant and rampant property destruction in Baltimore as the police stand by and watch."

Many NFL players took to Twitter to react, including LaQuan Williams, who has played for the Baltimore Ravens and posted: "Speechless. Pray for my city."

Authorities seeking to restore order after the violence have brought in the National Guard and imposed a night-time curfew, beginning on Tuesday evening.

Police had earlier warned that rival criminal gangs - the Bloods, the Crips and the Black Guerilla family - made a "credible" pact to target officers on the day of Mr Gray's funeral.

Mr Gray died on 19 April of spinal injuries, a week after being arrested and put into a police van. He became the latest in a series of cases of alleged police brutality .

Barack Obama has yet to address the latest violence but is likely to be asked about it when he has a news conference with Japan’s prime minister later.