Police disperse crowd of 1,000 teens in Fells Point with no arrests

Karl Hille, Baltimore Sun on Jun 21, 2026

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Baltimore Police dispersed an estimated crowd of more than 1,000 teenagers in the Fells Point neighborhood of Baltimore late Saturday night who had gathered in the waterfront area despite the city’s summer youth curfew. No arrests were made.

Police said the crowd was in the area of Thames Street and South Broadway, near Broadway Square.

“I can confirm that a dispersal order was issued in Fells Point last night for an unlawful assembly,” police spokeswoman Lindsey Eldridge said Sunday. “It is estimated that more than 1,000 young people were in the area. The crowd dispersed following the order.”

The gathering tested Baltimore’s summer curfew enforcement efforts at a time when city officials are emphasizing both policing and youth outreach as tools to prevent violence during the summer months.

Under Baltimore’s summer curfew, children younger than 14 must be off the streets by 9 p.m., while teens 14 to 16 must be indoors by 11 p.m. The curfew is in effect nightly through the end of August.

Fells Point has repeatedly been at the center of clashes over large gatherings of teens in recent years.

The issue reached a boiling point in 2023, when a series of highly publicized fights and disorderly incidents in Fells Point and the Inner Harbor prompted city leaders to step up curfew enforcement and expand youth programming during summer evenings. Police have since regularly deployed additional officers to entertainment districts on weekends, while the city has invested in recreation programs, late-night activities and street outreach workers through its Summer Youth Engagement Strategy.

Officials have argued that enforcement alone cannot solve the problem, pointing instead to a combination of curfews, youth programming and violence-interruption efforts. Critics, however, have questioned whether those measures are sufficient when crowds numbering in the hundreds — and, in Saturday’s case, around 1,000 people — continue to assemble in popular districts.

AFRAM disturbance hours earlier

The dispersal order came hours after two Baltimore police officers were assaulted during a disturbance at the 50th annual AFRAM festival in Druid Hill Park.

Police said officers called for backup shortly before 8 p.m. after a fight involving about 100 teenagers broke out, and they began throwing bottles and other objects at officers.

Neither officer was injured, and no arrests were made. Police declared the area a civil unrest zone, deployed additional resources and eventually cleared the area. The festival continued uninterrupted.

Earlier Saturday afternoon, police arrested a 17-year-old at AFRAM after officers believed he was carrying a firearm. The teenager was taken into custody without incident.

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