In January 1962, Baltimore's Civic Interest Group (CIG) - an affiliate of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) - began organizing sit-ins and freedom rides in towns along Maryland's Eastern Shore.
This escalation motivated leaders of both the CNAC and CIG to meet with city officials to discuss the desegregation of public accommodations, equal employment opportunities, and fair housing for African Americans, but their demands went unmet.
[3] CNAC demonstrations continued in mid-May, with many of them led by high school students Dwight Cromwell and Dinez White, both 15, who were later charged with "disorderly conduct" after being arrested while praying peacefully outside of a segregated facility.
[4] Governor Tawes declared martial law and deployed the Maryland National Guard to Cambridge after the CNAC refused a year-long moratorium on protests.
[5] Tensions further increased when 250 African-Americans organized a "freedom walk" to the Dorchester County Court House that evening and were met by a crowd of 700 whites.
[5] Order was reestablished around 2 a.m. on July 12 and Major George E. Davidson of the Maryland State Police recommended to Governor Tawes that full martial law be reinstated.
Documents from the Kerner Commission investigation show that he completed his speech at 10 pm July 24, then walked a woman home and was shot by a deputy sheriff without provocation.
[8] The head of the Cambridge police department, Brice Kinnamon, nonetheless claimed that the city had no racial problems, Brown was the "sole" cause of the disorder, and it was "a well-planned Communist attempt to overthrow the government.