Just days after being
sworn in as attorney general, Loretta Lynch is being encouraged to kick off her tenure with a visit to Baltimore to address the outbreak of racial tensions over police issues, according to
Politico.
"I think at some point, it's important for her to go" to Baltimore, Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, told Politico. "This crisis is not just a local crisis. This is a crisis of national dimensions."
North Carolina Democratic Rep. G.K. Butterfield, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, agreed but said she should not make her way there this week.
"She needs to deploy senior staff to Baltimore, which she has done, and at the appropriate time, I think she does need to go to Baltimore," he said, according to Politico. "But not this week."
The Justice Department has said that there are currently no plans for Lynch to visit Baltimore. She has already sent some of her top staff, including Vanita Gupta, head of the department's civil rights division, Ron Davis, director of community oriented policing services, and Grande Lum, head of the department's Community Relations Services office, according to Politico.
The unrest in Baltimore marks the first big test for Lynch, who pledged during her swearing-in ceremony to take up the challenge of restoring "trust and faith both in our laws and in those of us who enforce them,"
USA Today reported.
"I cannot wait to begin that journey," she said.
Lynch already has a track record of addressing police and racial tensions. Most recently as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, her office lead the investigation into the death of Eric Garner, the unarmed black man who died from a police chokehold in New York.
The Justice Department is continuing to work on its investigation into the case.
"She understands community concerns," Janice Fedarcyk, a former assistant director for the FBI in New York who worked with Lynch, told Politico. "She understands how to reach into those diverse communities and start a dialogue, as much as she understands how tough a law enforcement job is."
Less than six hours after being sworn in on Monday, Lynch was briefing President Barack Obama on the situation in Baltimore. And on Tuesday she directed deputies at the Justice Department (DOJ) to reach out to key figures in Baltimore, while Gupta and Davis were told to contact both the family of Freddie Gray, whose death triggered the riots, and the families of Baltimore police officers who were injured during the demonstrations, Politico said.
On Tuesday, Lynch also held a conference call with top members of the Maryland delegation to brief them on the Justice Department's investigations into the violence along with other assistance the department could offer. She also spoke with Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, according to Politico.
Maryland Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings said that Lynch "assured us that the DOJ investigations of the Baltimore City Police Department are ongoing and have her highest priority and attention."
"I feel confident that the DOJ will conduct thorough investigations and that the findings will help provide answers to the many questions surrounding the death of Freddie Gray and the policies and practices of the Baltimore City Police Department," Cummings said, according to Politico.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.