PROTESTERS FAULT MAYOR IN FIRE THAT KILLED SIX IN BALTIMORE

BALTIMORE, Oct. 20 - About 400 people gathered today at the charred row
house where Angela Dawson and her family lived to protest what they called
the city's neglect of the neighborhood.

Ms. Dawson, 36, died Wednesday morning with five of her children in a fire
the authorities say was set in retaliation for her crusade against drug
dealing.

Today, residents and ministers rallied in front of her house and criticized
Mayor Martin O'Malley and his administration. The ministers accused Mr.
O'Malley of refusing to respond to requests for meetings in the last three
days to devise a strategy to fight drug-related violence.

They said the mayor's administration had also ignored pleas to increase
police patrols and take other steps to revitalize the neighborhood, where
boarded-up houses pockmark most blocks and violent drug dealers take over
corners at night.

"The community is here; where is the mayor?" asked the Rev. Calvin Keene,
pastor of Memorial Baptist Church. "Mayor O'Malley, we're looking for you.
Where's O'Malley?"

Taking his cue, the crowd, carrying white signs with "Thou Shalt Not Kill"
written on them in red letters, began chanting, "Where's O'Malley?"

Rally organizers from Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development, a
citywide group of about 50 religious congregations known by its acronym,
Build, contended that low-income neighborhoods had suffered for years
because they were a low priority at City Hall.

Gerry Shields, a spokesman for Mr. O'Malley, accused Build's leaders of
politicizing the deaths to get back at the mayor for not providing more
money for the organization's after-school programs.

"They have been no fan of the mayor's, and to use this horrendous incident
as an opportunity to criticize the mayor is unbelievable," Mr. Shields said.

The mayor's top priority is fighting drug-related violence, Mr. Shields
said, adding that more aggressive law enforcement has contributed to
significant declines in violent crime in the last two years.

Mr. O'Malley, who is to attend a vigil at the Dawsons' home on Monday, will
elaborate this week on further plans to combat drugs and violence, Mr.
Shields said.

The police said that Darrell L. Brooks, 21, who was accused of starting the
fire, was angry that Mrs. Dawson had confronted drug dealers and reported
them to the police. Mr. Brooks is being held without bond on six counts of
first-degree murder, arson and many related charges.

The police said Mr. Brooks kicked in the door of the Dawsons' house after 2
a.m. on Wednesday, poured gasoline and ignited the fire, which also
critically injured Mrs. Dawson's husband, Carnell Dawson Sr., 43.

At today's rally, the ministers also called for a commitment from the mayor
to strengthen schools, housing and health care in the neighborhood and to
help provide more drug treatment, recreation and economic development.

"There's definitely a double standard, and this neighborhood is the home of
many who are second-class citizens," said the Rev. Curtis Jones, a
co-chairman of Build and pastor of a nearby Presbyterian church.

Many also questioned why the police did not protect Ms. Dawson's home after
drug dealers had repeatedly threatened her and after the house was
firebombed on Oct. 3. City officials have said they offered to move the
family or provide more police protection, but that the Dawsons refused.

"Protection should have been automatic," Mr. Jones said.