Video: Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake gavels in the Democratic National Convention.

Baltimore mayor and DNC secretary Stephanie Rawlings-Blake officially gaveled in the start of the 2016 Democratic national Convention. Watch the video below.

Black Lives Matter protesters interrupt U.S. mayors' conference

Demonstrators from the Black Lives Matter movement interrupted the U.S. Conference of Mayors' meeting on Wednesday, protesting the killing of a Chicago teenager by police and the lead-tainted water supply of Flint, Michigan.

At least three people among onlookers and one person on stage held up signs when Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, the group's president, spoke during the meeting's opening news conference at a hotel in Washington, D.C.

One protester interrupted her several times, shouting, "You failed us!" Baltimore was torn in April by rioting over the death of black detainee Freddie Gray, and six police officers are facing charges.

Read more: Black Lives Matter protesters interrupt U.S. mayors' conference

Baltimore Mayor Fires Police Commissioner Amid Spike in Homicides

I normally support Baltimore Mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake but I think throwing the police commissioner under the bus for trying to carry out her vision is her just trying to appease the masses and draw attention away from her office. Whatever policies Commissioner Anthony Batts tried to implement and carry out had to have had the mayor's stamp of approval. George Cook AfricanAmericanReports.com

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake replaced the city's police commissioner on Wednesday, saying the city needed to be more focused on suppressing a spike in violence in the months since the death of a man in police custody.

Rawlings-Blake said the police department under Commissioner Anthony Batts had become too preoccupied with internal politics and not enough with stemming a surge in shootings and killings.

"This was not an easy decision, but it is one that is in the best interest of Baltimore," the mayor said in a late afternoon news conference. "The people of Baltimore deserve better. The brave men and women of our department who put their lives on the line to make our cities deserve better."

Read more: Baltimore Mayor Fires Police Commissioner Amid Spike in Homicide Rate