Freddie Gray death: protests turn violent in Baltimore

In the biggest protest since 25-year-old Freddie Gray died last Sunday, two clusters of marchers chanting “shut it down” started out at different times before merging during the afternoon into a single wave headed toward City Hall.

Read more: Protests in Baltimore over Freddie Gray police custody death

Gray is the latest in a series of black men around the country who died under questionable circumstances during police encounters. Their deaths have triggered an outcry in the United States over what many see as law enforcement’s unjustified use of force against African-Americans.

Last year, there were weeks of protests across the country following the shooting death of unarmed black teen Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and the death of Eric Garner, in New York City who was placed in a chokehold during an attempted arrest.

Saturday’s protests came a day after Baltimore’s police commissioner conceded that police had failed to provide Gray with timely medical attention for a spinal injury he had suffered sometime after he was apprehended and put inside a transport van. Police have not explained how he sustained the injury. He died a week after his arrest on April 12.

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The South Carolina shooting of an unarmed black man in North Charleston was the latest in a line of incidents that shocked AmericaChannel 4 News looks back at some of the most controversial examples of police officers using lethal force against African-American men.It contains footage that some viewers may find distressing. Read more: http://bit.ly/1alRnsN

Posted by Channel 4 News on Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Six Baltimore police officers have been suspended in the Gray case, and an internal police investigation is under way.

“We are all united in our demand to indict the six police officers and convict,” said Sharon Black, spokeswoman for People’s Power Assembly, one of the rally organisers.

On Friday, Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said the officers repeatedly failed to give Gray medical assistance and disregarded department regulations by failing to buckle the man into seat restraints in the van.

Police have said Gray fled when officers approached him in a high-crime area, but he was caught a short time later and placed in the van. He was carrying a switchblade knife, police said.

When the van arrived at the police station, an ambulance was called and Gray was taken to a hospital. He died a week later.

Batts said on Friday that investigators were still trying to determine what happened inside the police van. Police said their investigation would be completed by May 1, a day before protesters plan another rally in Baltimore.

The department will turn over its findings to state prosecutors and an independent review will follow.