A National Guard truck drives by protesters at North Ave., and Pennsylvania Ave., a day after Baltimore authorities released a report on the death of Freddie Gray yesterday.
Reuters/Baltimore
A jubilant Baltimore headed into a weekend of rallies yesterday after six police were criminally charged over the death of a black man that fuelled national outrage over police conduct in black communities.
Several thousand people were expected to take part in a rally at Baltimore city hall, with marchers leaving from the Gilmor Homes housing projects where the victim, 25-year-old Freddie Gray, was arrested. Demonstrations were also expected in other cities around the US.
Baltimore streets were calm yesterday ahead of the march, with a large police and national guard presence near city hall.
Many in the largely black city erupted with joy on Friday after the officers were charged with crimes ranging from murder to assault and misconduct in Gray’s death on April 19 from severe spinal injuries while in police custody.
But while the swift charges brought relief to the city of 620,000, residents said they needed to see justice served, not only in Baltimore but in other US communities where minorities are disproportionately targeted by police.
Using social media hashtags #BlackLivesMatter and #BlackSpring, rallies in solidarity with Freddie Gray were planned yesterday in more than 20 US cities including Dallas, New York and Los Angeles.
The Baltimore charges served as counterpoint to other police killings of unarmed black men over the past year in cities including Ferguson, Missouri, and New York, where authorities cleared the officers involved.
Baltimore has largely followed the 10pm curfew put in place after unrest following Gray’s funeral during which dozens of buildings and vehicles were burned, 20 police officers injured and more than 200 people arrested.
As part of investigations, the federal government is offering up to a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for fires that it said were intentionally set.
The worst of the blazes destroyed a center for elderly people and a two pharmacy chain stores. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has set up a telephone number and a web site to upload video footage of any suspected arson, and assured anonymity for anyone providing information.
US Representative Elijah Cummings, who represents the area where Gray died and has worked to calm Baltimore’s streets the past four nights, welcomed the filing of charges in Gray’s death.
“It feels good, it’s a relief,” he said. “They have to let it play out. It will take time. But so often there are no charges and the process never begins.”
Baltimore prosecutor Marilyn Mosby said on Friday the Maryland state medical examiner had ruled Gray’s death a homicide.
