Protesters rally in Baltimore after man dies in police custody

BALTIMORE (AP) – Thousands of protesters took to the streets Saturday to demand answers in the case of Freddie Gray, the largest rally since the 25-year-old black man died in police custody.

After a few hours of peaceful demonstrations, scores of rowdy protesters crowded outside of Camden Yards, where the Baltimore Orioles were set to play the Boston Red Sox.

One protester threw something at a police car, and kicked the windshield, cracking it, while others threw cans and plastic bottles in the direction of police officers. At least one protester jumped on a police car. Another car’s front windshield was also shattered.

From inside the stadium, fans watched the protesters gather.

Before the protest turned tense, demonstrators held signs with slogans such as “Jail Killer Police!” and “Unite Here!” They filled two city blocks and marched 2 miles to City Hall, where the crowd overtook the grassy plaza adjacent from the building.

Tanya Peacher, a 36-year-old Baltimore resident, said she’d never attended a protest in the city before, but watching a video of Gray’s arrest motivated her.

“I looked at my son,” she said, “and thought ‘that is my son.'”

Late Friday, Deputy Commissioner Kevin Davis said Gray should have received medical attention at the spot where he was arrested – before he was put inside a police transport van handcuffed and without a seat belt, a violation of the department’s policy.

Gray died April 19 after suffering a fatal spinal injury while in custody. Authorities have not explained how or when Gray’s spine was injured. Video showed him being dragged into a police van and police have said he rode in it for about 30 minutes before paramedics were called.

On Saturday, residents young and old, from Baltimore and beyond, voiced their anger at how the department and the city’s officials are handling the investigation into Gray’s death. At one point, the crowd paused for a moment of silence in front of Shock Trauma, the hospital where Gray died. The marchers then migrated to Camden Yards, where the Baltimore Orioles are scheduled to play the Boston Red Sox on Saturday evening.

At a downtown intersection, a dozen marchers laid down in the street during an impromptu “die-in.”

Wearing a sign around his neck that said “I am Freddie Gray,” 33-year-old Dante Acree joined thousands of others outside City Hall. Acree said he came out to the protest because “it could have been one of my kids.”

“It could have been my brother, my father,” he said. “I’d want the same support.”

Leonard Patterson, 56, said he drove from Manassas, Virginia, to be a part of the protest. Patterson said he decided to come after thinking about his college-aged daughter.

“I’m trying to do everything in my limbs, everything in my power, to make this a better world for her,” said Patterson, holding up his black and white drawing of Freddie Gray. The drawing shows Gray being hoisted from a police van to heaven by two angels.

“I’m here to do what I can. Police brutality is as old as the 1950s, the 1960s. It’s still here,” he said.