Protestors demonstrate outside the State Attorney’s office calling for the continued investigation into the death of Freddie Gray
Having weathered two all-night curfews with no major disturbances, Baltimore officials are now trying to manage growing expectations they will immediately decide whether to prosecute six police officers involved in the arrest of a black man who later died of injuries he apparently received while in custody.
In an effort to be transparent, authorities have told the community they plan to turn over the findings of a police investigation into Freddie Gray’s death to a state’s attorney by today. Gray’s death from a spinal injury a week after his April 12 arrest is what sparked riots Monday — the worst the city has seen since 1968.
Prosecutors will review the information and eventually decide how to move forward, authorities have said.
But protesters on the streets and high school students who met with Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake on Wednesday (yesterday, Macau time) have said there are rumors circulating that some kind of “verdict” will be rendered as soon as today.
“It became very clear … that people misunderstood,” Rawlings-Blake said.
Both Rawlings-Blake and Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts spent much of the day Wednesday trying to explain that no final resolution to the case would come today.
Hassan Murphy, a lawyer for Gray’s family, underscored their comments, saying, “This family wants justice and they want justice that comes at the right time and not too soon.”
Said Rawlings-Blake: “Whatever time the state’s attorney’s office needs to make that determination, the family wants to get it right.”
Gray, 25, was pinned to a sidewalk, handcuffed and hoisted into a police van where he was put in leg irons after Baltimore officers said he made eye contact with them and ran. Somewhere along the way, he suffered a fatal spinal injury, and the six officers involved were suspended with pay amid the criminal investigation. Amanda Lee Myers and David Dishneau, Baltimore AP
Protests in New York, Boston
Hundreds of people rallied and marched in New York and Boston to protest as Philadelphia activists prepared for their own demonstration. More than 100 people were arrested in New York on Wednesday (yesterday) night after police on a loudspeaker warned them they would be taken into custody if they marched in the street. While the demonstrations were mostly peaceful, police made numerous arrests, including 16 in Baltimore and at least 100 in New York.
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