Baltimore: After a week of protests, people angry over the unexplained police-custody death of Freddie Gray promised their biggest march on Saturday, when they would try to “shut down” the city.
The mayor thanked protesters for being peaceful so far and said the police commissioner assured her the investigation into Gray’s death is moving as quickly as possible. She expects the results to be turned over to prosecutors in a week. They will decide whether any criminal charges will be filed.
“I will not deny we have had a very long and complicated history on issues such as these,” Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Friday. “But it’s important to remember that we have an equally long history of peaceful and legal protest.”
Gray was arrested April 12 after he made eye contact with officers and ran away, police said. Officers held him down, handcuffed him and loaded him into a police van. While inside, he became irate and leg cuffs were put on him, police have said.
Gray was not buckled in by a seat belt, a violation of the police department’s policy.
He asked for medical help several times, and after a 30-minute ride, paramedics were called. At some point — either during his arrest or inside the van — he suffered a mysterious spinal injury. Authorities have not explained how or when it occurred. Six officers have been suspended with pay during the investigation.
“I still want to know why none of the officers called for immediate medical assistance despite Mr. Gray’s apparent pleas,” the mayor said.
Asked if Gray’s possible “rough ride” is a one-off, she said: “It’s clearly not a one-off. The reason we have the policy around seat belts in the police vans is because of an incident that happened previously,” referring to Dondi Johnson. He died of a fractured spine in 2005 after he was arrested for urinating in public and transported without a seat belt, with his hands cuffed behind his back.
Meanwhile, the leader of a group of local ministers called on Police Commissioner Anthony Batts to resign immediately.
“It seems that no one in the police department can explain what happened,” said the Rev. Alvin Gwynn Sr., president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Baltimore.
He said the police department is “in disarray” and Batts has shown a “lack of viable leadership capabilities.”
The president of a black lawyers’ group predicted thousands of people would turn out Saturday, when good weather is forecast and the Orioles are hosting the Boston Red Sox in a Major League Baseball game.
“Things will change on Saturday, and the struggle will be amplified,” said Malik Shabazz of Black Lawyers for Justice.
Shabazz rejected the notion that he was an outside agitator who would stir up trouble.
Bernard Young, Baltimore City Council president said before a rally on Thursday that he hoped citizens wouldn’t let “outside forces come in here and dictate how we act by destroying our infrastructure.”
“We can lead ourselves. We’re capable of doing that,” he said.
Investigation
Meanwhile, in investigation into Gray’s death is still trying to figure out what happened, the police commissioner said on Friday as the city braced for a major protest over the incident.
Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said police would release surveillance camera photos involving the death of Freddie Gray, 25, who died on Sunday a week after being arrested. A preliminary autopsy report said he had suffered a spinal injury.
“We’re getting closer and the picture is getting sharper and sharper as we move forward,” Batts told a news conference, adding that “multiple gaps” still remained.
Deputy Commissioner Kevin Davis said the van stopped once to put Gray in leg restraints, followed by a second stop. “The facts of that interaction are under investigation,” he said.
The van stopped a third time to pick up a second suspect, who was put in the back of the vehicle with a metal barrier separating the men. A police witness has said Gray was talking then, Davis said.
“They pick him up off the floor and place him on the seat at that time. He says he needs a medic,” Davis said.
When the van arrived at the Western District police station, an ambulance was called and Gray was taken to a hospital.
