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Following Judge Barry G. Williams declaring a mistrial Wednesday afternoon, tensions grew amongst demonstrators, as a scuffle broke out and at least one protestor was arrested and brought inside the courthouse.

“I’m mad. I’m upset. But I am also not surprised,” said Justin Sanders, 32, of West Baltimore outside the courthouse. “How can anybody be surprised anymore?”

The mistrial was declared after the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict to acquit or find Porter guilty of involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office, or reckless endangerment. Attorneys are due in court tomorrow to set a retrial date.

“It’s part of the process,” said community organizer J.C. Faulk outside the courthouse. “What the city is doing is delaying the inevitable.” While clearly not happy with the court’s ruling, he added, “Now is not the time to put bodies on the line.”

Following the announcement, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake immediately released a statement, urging citizens to “respect the outcome of the judicial process . . . I urge everyone to remember that collectively our reaction needs to be one of respect for our neighborhoods, and for the residents and businesses of our city.”

Congressman Elijah Cummings echoed the mayor’s sentiment in a statement released Wednesday evening.

“With the eyes of the world on Baltimore City, we must ensure that any protests that take place are peaceful, and we must ensure that the process of healing our community continues,” Cummings said in the statement. “We must continue to channel our emotions into strong, positive change, so that, as a city, we truly see our young men of color before it is too late.”

Similarly, mayoral candidate and City Councilman Nick Mosby released a statement saying, “As a city, we must come together and continue the healing process of working to rebuild trust and improve community-police relations for the safety of residents and our police officers.”

Gene Ryan, president of the Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police, called the decision “obviously frustrating” in a statement.

“Officer Porter and his attorneys will continue, with the full support of the Fraternal Order of Police, to press for his acquittal,” Ryan said.

City State’s Attorney prosecutors Michael Schatzow and Janice Bledsoe, pictured, left the courthouse without speaking to the media.

As Wednesday evening went on, protestors continued to march from the courthouse to City Hall, just a block away.

Amongst the demonstrators was City Councilman Carl Stokes, who said, to him personally, it was “most bothersome” that Porter’s defense attorneys made the case that their client was not guilty because “nobody follows the rules,” in terms of seat-belting arrestees in transport vans.

Stokes was also upset at the defense for putting all the blame on not securing Gray on the van driver and, ultimately, making the case that it didn’t matter whether Porter called for medical assistance or not because Gray would not have survived his catastrophic injury regardless.

“[Porter] and his fellow officers are accountable and responsible for Freddie Gray’s death,” he said. “But there is a systemic issue as well. There is a culture that has developed within the police department that some of our citizens’ lives are worthless.”

Also following the trial closely was Tessa Hill-Aston, NAACP Baltimore chapter president.

“I’m disappointed,” she said. “I sat in court each day and heard medical testimony and everything else. I know Freddie Gray was in pain. I heard testimony that made me cringe about the pain he was in. And nobody called for help. Somebody has to be responsible and accountable for that.”

Hill-Aston added that she expects protests this evening in the city, but hopes no one will do anything that ends up in an arrest.

“We know what can happen to people when they get locked up,” she said. “I don’t want to see anyone else get hurt.”

Additional reporting was contributed by senior editor Ron Cassie.

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The announcement of her 2016 campaign “and vision for Baltimore” took place at City College high school at 10:30 a.m. A Twitter account, @Embry4Baltimore, and website, EmbryForBaltimore.org, has already been launched.

“And so, because I am not a politician, you may not know my name yet; you may not know my story yet; but you will. And that starts today,” she announced this morning, before going into her stance on criminal justice. “Public safety does not require mass arrests or zero tolerance . . . The war on drugs is too often, and for too many, a war on drug addicts.”

Embry, who has long been rumored to run, is currently the director of the criminal division in the Office of the Attorney General, headed by Brian Frosh. She is the daughter of longtime Abell Foundation president Robert Embry.

The Yale and Columbia University graduate previously served as acting director of the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice in Baltimore and as deputy for policy and planning in the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office.

Embry has been an assistant solicitor in the Baltimore City Office of Law and was a felony prosecutor in the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office.

Embry joins a seemingly ever-growing field, which expanded earlier this week with the addition of venture capitalist and philanthropist David Warnock.

“Never more than now has our city needed a leader who puts the people of Baltimore above all else, who has a clear vision and real solutions to get the city running again and the experience and energy to get the job done,” Embry told The Sun in a recent interview.

In September, in the ongoing wake of Freddie Gray’s death, a spike in homicides in the city, and the departure of former police commissioner Anthony Batts, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who announced in September that she is not be running for re-election.

City Councilman Nick Mosby, former Mayor Sheila Dixon, City Councilman Carl Stokes, and State Sen. Catherine Pugh—already in the race. Other Democratic candidates that have filed include, in alphabetical order: Richard Black, Mack Clifton, Joshua Harris, Mike Maraziti, and Calvin Young III.

One Republican, Brian Charles Vaeth, has also filed to run, and two Green Party candidates, Bonnie Renee Lane and Emanuel McCray. One Independent Party candidate, Collins Otonna, and one unaffiliated candidate, Connor Meek, have also filed.

Early voting in the 2016 Maryland primary begins April 14, 2016. Primary election day is April 26, 2016.

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Davis, a former deputy to past commissioner Anthony Batts, had previously served as chief of police in Anne Arundel County and assistant police chief in Prince George’s County. He has been working as interim commissioner since Batts was fired on July 8 by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. Davis earned degrees Towson University and Johns Hopkins University after graduating from DeMatha High School.

Only Councilman Carl Stokes, who has announced that he is running to replace Rawlings-Blake, who will not seek re-election, and Councilman Nick Mosby, who has indicated that he’s considering a bid for mayor, voted against Davis’ confirmation. Both have raised issue with the $150,000 severance package that Rawlings-Blake has said she will offer Davis, whose tenure will include employment under a new mayor after next year’s election.

Last week, police arrested more than a dozen mostly young protesters who occupied City Hall after hours following a City Council hearing supporting Davis for promotion to the full-time position. That demonstration was followed with more protests yesterday at City Hall, and later, on downtown streets by activists alleging that Davis is not committed to protecting the right of peaceful protests.

Activists known as Baltimore Bloc, along with the Baltimore Algebra Project, Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, and City Bloc, among other local groups, recently drafted a 19-point plan designed to ensure free speech rights for public protestors as the trial dates for the six police officers charged in the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray approach.

Although Davis said he and the police department have “taken steps to ensure a better flow of communication” with protestors, City Bloc organizer and City College high school senior Makayla Gilliam-Price told The Real News that the new commissioner hasn’t promised accountability, in terms of protecting demonstrators’ safety.

Baltimore had recorded a relatively low number of homicides (65) prior to Gray’s death in mid-April. Afterward, however, a four-decade high of 42 murders in May was followed with 45 killed in July—the month Batts was fired—once again placing Baltimore among the most dangerous cities in the country.

Councilman Brandon Scott, who earlier this year opposed naming Davis to replace Batts, said while promoting him may not be the most popular decision right now, “confirming Davis is the best decision for Baltimore.”

“I understand the concerns that many have about appointing a new commissioner when we know a new mayor will take office next year,” Scott said in a statement. “However, with the violence that is occurring in our city right now I believe that we cannot afford to have the department operate without a permanent leader.”

Scott added that he believes that the city leaders should begin having conversations about how Baltimore police commissioners are hired, noting that he has introduced a council resolution asking that the General Assembly and governor of Maryland no longer require that Baltimore police commissioner terms be six years in length.

Davis recently told Baltimore magazine at a Western District public safety that it’s his hope that 2015 will mark a turning point in relations between the police department and aggrieved communities—and the city as a whole.

Eugene O’Donnell, a John Jay College of Criminal Justice professor and a former New York City police officer, has called the challenge facing Davis, “the toughest job in the United States at the moment.”

The Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3, “the voice of the active and retired officers of the Baltimore City Police Department,” immediately tweeted their support for Davis last night:

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Sophisticated and well produced, Dixon calls Baltimore a tough but “loving city” in a voice-over. “Here’s the thing about Baltimore,” Dixon says early into the 93-second spot, obliquely referencing her past legal troubles. “When you get knocked down, somebody is there to help you back up. This is a city of second chances.”

Dixon, of course, was forced from office after taking gift cards donated to the poor. After a jury convicted her of misdemeanor embezzlement, she added a guilty plea in a perjury case and then, as part of a deal with prosecutors, resigned. Her 2010 departure led to then-City Council president Stephanie Rawlings-Blake’s succession to the office.

Dixon announced her intention to run for the city’s top office in July. City Councilman Carl Stokes and state Sen. Catherine E. Pugh both announced last week that they would be among the suddenly growing number of candidates (with more expected) entering the fray.

Rawlings-Blake announced Friday that she will not seek re-election, but will focus on governing Baltimore through the next 15 months as the city tries to stem the recent tide of violence and works through the six police officer trials related to the death of Freddie Gray in April.

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“As I prepared to engage in a vigorous mayoral campaign and participated in planning meetings with my campaign team and volunteers, I came to the realization that every moment that I spend running for mayor would take away from the urgent responsibilities to the city that I love,” Rawlings-Blake said in a statement. “Over the next 15 months, my time would be best spent focused on continuing to move the city forward and building upon our progress, without the distraction of campaign politics.”

Coming a day after the second pre-trial motions hearing in the Freddie Gray cases, Rawlings-Blake’s announcement Friday came as a major surprise to political observers and shakes up a suddenly wide-open Democratic race for mayor with the primary still seven months away.

In making the announcement, Rawlings-Blake stressed her decision was not made out of a fear of losing the upcoming election and highlighted her accomplishments while in office, including reforming the city’s pension system, improving Baltimore’s bond rating and overall financial picture, reducing property taxes, prioritizing the Vacants to Value initiative, and helping secure more than $1 billion for school construction.

“I haven’t lost a race since middle school,” Rawlings-Blake said, jokingly noting that the opponent who beat her then—a boy named Anthony Watson—isn’t among the current field of candidates.

She said she has no immediate plans to run again for political office, but did not rule out doing so in the future. Part of the reason that the decision not to run for re-election comes as a surprise is that Rawlings-Blake seemed on firmer political ground in recent weeks after firing former police commissioner Anthony Batts and naming interim commissioner Kevin Davis to take over. That move that appeared to be supported by the Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police leadership, from whom Rawlings-Blake has taken a great deal of heat since the April unrest, and seemed to be steadying the ship at the police department, at least publicly, and in terms of managing the more recent protests around the courthouse.

“Much work remains to be done, and I will spend the remaining 15 months of my term as Mayor continuing to be focused on our city’s future and moving this city forward,” Rawlings-Blake said. “I will continue efforts to improve police-community relations and decrease violent crime. I will continue to fight for City Council approval of my ambitious plan to invest $136 million in recreation centers for our communities. I will continue to create opportunities for new jobs and attack neighborhood blight.”

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican who has clashed with Rawlings-Blake at times over the response to the protests and riots after Gray’s death from injuries suffered while in police custody and his decision to cancel Baltimore’s Red Line mass transit project, released the following statement: “It takes courage and strength to lead one of America’s great cities, and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake stood up and has served the city she loves over the course of two decades. I value my working relationship with the mayor and thank her for her service. Our administrations will continue working together to make Baltimore a better and stronger city.”

Rawlings-Blake said a decision not to seek re-election had been percolating for several months as her administration prepared for the legal issues surrounding the Gray case. The announcement follows by two days her administration’s agreement—and the City’s Board of Estimates approval—of a controversial $6.4 million wrongful death settlement with Gray’s family that accepted all civil liability, but expressly did not acknowledge guilt by the police officers charged in the case.

Rawlings-Blake’s decision obviously opens up space for April’s Democratic primary contestants, a field which includes former mayor Sheila Dixon—who announced she was running in July—and state Sen. Catherine Pugh and City Councilman Carl Stokes, who both announced Tuesday that they were entering the fray.

Dixon, in a statement, commended Rawlings-Blake, a former City Council member who rose to City Council president when Dixon became mayor. “She and her family have made many sacrifices and I think earned the right to pursue other goals.”

Rawlings-Blake was initially appointed mayor in 2010 when Dixon was forced to resign as part of a plea deal after stealing gift cards intended for the poor. Rawlings-Blake, whose father, Howard P. “Pete” Rawlings, was a widely respected state delegate from Baltimore City, was elected in her own right in 2011.

Stokes, near his City Hall office, said he was surprised by the mayor’s announcement, but praised Rawlings-Blake’s decision to place managing the city through its current struggles over running a re-election campaign.

“I know it’s a hard decision for her,” Stokes said.

By stepping aside, Stokes added, the mayor, City Council, and various City departments should be able to address and communicate about issues more directly, without worrying about how they will play out or be spun in the context of a political campaign.

City Councilman Brandon Scott, who got his start in politics as a community outreach worker for Rawlings-Blake and is also considering a bid for mayor, said he respected the mayor’s decision. “She came into the City Council when she was 25 and is leaving at 45, 46 [when her term expires]. She gave the prime of her life to the city,” Scott said. “History will look back and see the mayor did some great things.”

Other potential contenders for mayor include businessman and best-selling author Wes Moore, who is said to be considering a bid; state Del. Jill P. Carter, whose supporters have launched a Facebook page with almost 2,700 followers encouraging her to run; and City Councilman Nick J. Mosby, who represents West Baltimore and is married to City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby.

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