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Daquan Green, age 17, sits on the curb while riot police stand guard near the CVS pharmacy that was set on fire yesterday during rioting after the funeral of Freddie Gray, on April 28, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. Gray, 25, was arrested for possessing a switch blade knife April 12 outside the Gilmor Houses housing project on Baltimore's west side. According to his attorney, Gray died a week later in the hospital from a severe spinal cord injury he received while in police custody.Andrew Burton/Getty Images

Rev. Donte L. Hickman Sr. heard about the trouble brewing on this city's west side on Monday afternoon and instantly took to Twitter to rally his East Baltimore troops.

"I need all my men to meet me at New Shiloh Baptist Church now," he wrote, referring to the community hub that had hosted the funeral for Freddie Gray. Days of demonstrations over Mr. Gray's death after sustaining a severe spinal cord injury in police custody were giving way to violence and looting.

"We have to get these streets under control," he said in the post, referring to riots in West Baltimore.

About 8:30 p.m., after an emotional meeting and march in West Baltimore that included other pastors, gang leaders and local politicians, Mr. Hickman's cellphone rang. Back across town, next to his own Southern Baptist Church, a $16-million, half-built senior housing project and community centre were ablaze. He had worked for years on the project, an extraordinary investment in a neighbourhood that has suffered for years from poverty, drugs and neglect.

On Tuesday, Mr. Hickman, 43, dressed immaculately in a dark pinstriped suit, stood in front of an acre of scorched girders and charred wood. A breeze carried the acrid smell of destruction. He had stayed at the fire most of the night before grabbing three hours of sleep.

"I can't make sense out of nonsense," he said of the unknown arsonists. "Whoever did this was someone who didn't understand what we were trying to do."

The devastation, in blighted neighbourhoods on both sides of town, was part of a heavy blow for Baltimore, a long-suffering city that has in recent years shown encouraging signs of a comeback. The lawlessness included the burning of a CVS and the frenzied looting of a mall, commercial institutions that mean more in poor parts of Baltimore than they might elsewhere.

Whether the disorder will be a major setback, like the far bigger riots of 1968, or a call to action – "We will rebuild," Mr. Hickman said confidently – depends on what happens next.

Some of the city's boosters – and the president of the United States – expressed anguish over what they portrayed as an illogical and opportunistic reaction to legitimate fury about police violence.

Interrupting a news conference with the Japanese prime minister on Tuesday, President Barack Obama spoke passionately about Baltimore, denouncing the rioters.

"They're destroying and undermining businesses and opportunities in their own communities that rob jobs and opportunity from people in that area," he said.

At the Mondawmin Mall – closed and guarded Tuesday after looters ransacked stores and kiosks Monday – Baltimore's mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, surveyed the damage and spoke of how hard officials had worked to bring Target to the mall and CVS store to the corner of North and Pennsylvania Avenues. The CVS was set ablaze by rioters.

"To see all of that work go up in smoke, it's painful. It's very painful," she said.

But for some residents, the developments the mayor cited as achievements only emphasized the paltry prospects for poor neighbourhoods.

"This is the land that time forgot," said Aisha Snead, who grew up in West Baltimore. "They want to act like the CVS is the Taj Mahal. They have dilapidated buildings everywhere. They have never invested in the people. In fact, it's divested. They take every red cent they can from poor black people and put it into the Inner Harbor."

But, by midday Tuesday, Donte Hickman, the Baptist minister, was already working the phones, talking to the developers about plans to rebuild the Mary Harvin Transformation Center, as the new development is to be called, honouring a church member. He spoke about creating a work-force development program, health services, life coaching, mortgage lending. He pointed to a broad field across the street that the church has acquired to build a youth centre, and an abandoned laundry he hopes to convert to more housing.

"We have a mantra," he said. "We restore people as we restore buildings."

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