Baltimore protests grow over death of man in police custody
BALTIMORE -- The streets of Baltimore filled Tuesday with people protesting the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who suffered a fatal spinal-cord injury under mysterious circumstances after he was handcuffed and put in the back of a police van.
At least 1,000 people gathered at a previously planned rally at the site of Gray's arrest. Protesters marched to a police station a couple of blocks away, chanting and holding signs that read "Black Lives Matter" and "No Justice, No Peace" -- slogans that have come embody what demonstrators believe is widespread mistreatment of blacks by police.
The rally came after the Justice Department said Tuesday it has opened a civil rights investigation into Gray's death, which took place after he suffered a spinal-cord injury under mysterious circumstances when he was handcuffed and put in the back of a police van.
Gray, 25, was taken into custody April 12 after police "made eye contact" with him and another man in an area known for drug activity, police said. Gray was handcuffed and put in a transport van.
At some point during his roughly 30-minute ride, the van was stopped and Gray's legs were shackled when an officer felt he was becoming "irate," police said.
Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said that Gray asked for an inhaler, and then several times asked for medical care. He was eventually rushed to a hospital.
Gray died Sunday -- a week after his arrest -- of what police described as "a significant spinal injury."
Six officers on the Baltimore police force were suspended in connection to the case. They have been with the department for anywhere from three to 18 years.
Protests have taken place over the past few days and community leaders have been seeking answers from the city police department.
"At a simple perspective, it's just allowing the community to be part of the process and providing the information we can provide to ensure that they understand that the authorities and the officials are doing all that they can do to ensure justice is served," Baltimore City Councilmember Nick Mosby told CBS Baltimore.
"You call 911 on your next door neighbor's son for being on the corner and he ends up dead in the ambulance... you feel a certain way where you don't want to bring Baltimore policing in your own area," said Ray Kelley of the group No Boundaries.
But much of the frustration that has previously been seen during protests in Ferguson, Missouri and New York -- and more recently North Charleston, South Carolina and Tulsa, Oklahoma -- have surfaced here as well.
Pricilla Jackson carried a sign reading, "Convict Freddie's killers," that listed the names of the six officers suspended with pay while local authorities and the U.S. Justice Department investigate the death. Jackson, who is black, said she wants Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to know that she and others have been brutalized by police.
"They're hurting us when they throw us to the ground and kick us and punch us," said Jackson, 53.
At least one an activist was detained when he jumped past police barriers.
Gray's mother, Gloria Darden, was overcome with grief and carried away at one point by several men, writhing and sobbing uncontrollably, her face obscured by a hood and dark glasses. The crowd parted to let her through. Another female family member collapsed in tears and was also helped away.
It's not uncommon for federal investigators to look into allegations of excessive police force. Justice Department investigations in the last year include probes into the fatal shooting of Mike Brown in Ferguson -- a case that resulted in no charges against the officer -- and an ongoing review of a police chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York.
Still, there's a high threshold for bringing federal civil rights charges against police officers in such cases. Federal investigators must show an officer willfully deprived a person of his or her civil rights by using more force than the law allows, a standard that's challenging in rapidly unfolding confrontations in which snap judgments are made.
But Baltimore city officials say that they welcome the Justice Department's investigations.
"Whenever a police force conducts an internal investigation, there are always appropriate questions of transparency and impartiality," said Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. "My goal has always been to get answers to the questions so many of us are still asking with regards to Mr. Gray's death."