2015 Baltimore protests
The 2015 Baltimore protests were a series of demonstrations that occurred from April 18 to May 4, 2015, sparked by the death of Freddie Gray, an African American man who suffered fatal injuries while in police custody. Initially peaceful, the protests escalated into violent riots following Gray's funeral on April 27, leading to significant property damage and hundreds of arrests. These events highlighted a growing national discontent regarding police brutality, particularly within African American communities, amid a backdrop of other high-profile deaths of unarmed Black individuals in confrontations with law enforcement.
Freddie Gray was arrested on April 12, 2015, and subsequently suffered severe injuries while being transported in a police van, which led to his death a week later. The unrest intensified as demonstrators demanded accountability for the six officers involved, who were later charged with various offenses related to Gray's death. The protests also prompted a state of emergency declaration and the mobilization of the National Guard to restore order. While the riots resulted in injuries to police officers and widespread unrest, no fatalities occurred. Ultimately, the criminal trials of the officers involved ended without convictions, reflecting ongoing tensions and challenges regarding race and policing in America.
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2015 Baltimore protests
The 2015 Baltimore protests occurred from April 18 to May 4, 2015, in response to the death of Freddie Gray, an African American man who was fatally injured while in police custody. The protests began as peaceful but continued to grow until they erupted into violence a week after Gray’s death. On April 27, riots broke out in the city and lasted throughout the night. The violence did not claim any lives, but several hundred people were arrested and millions of dollars in damage was done to the city. The protests occurred during a period of growing anger among African Americans about alleged police brutality in the United States. Six police officers were eventually arrested in Gray’s death, but all were later acquitted or had their charges dropped.
Background
The unrest in Baltimore, Maryland, took place less than a year after several unarmed African American men were killed in encounters with police in the United States. The incidents received significant media attention and led to an increasingly tense atmosphere of mistrust between African Americans and police officers. Among the more notable incidents was the July 2014 death of forty-three-year-old Eric Garner. Garner died after being placed in an illegal chokehold by police in New York’s Staten Island borough. The officers were never charged criminally but did face police department discipline.
In August 2014, African American teenager Michael Brown was stopped by a white officer after he was accused of stealing from a convenience store in Ferguson, Missouri. After a struggle, Brown fled, then turned toward the officer, who fired, killing Brown. The shooting sparked days of riots in the suburb of St. Louis. Further rioting broke out in November 2014 when a grand jury declined to charge the officer in Brown’s death. A subsequent investigation by the US Justice Department cleared the officer of wrongdoing but did find evidence of a pattern of discrimination and unlawful conduct within the Ferguson Police Department.
Overview
On the morning of April 12, 2015, Baltimore police arrested twenty-five-year-old Freddie Gray after he began running when officers made eye contact with him. He surrendered without resisting, and officers did not use any excessive force during the arrest. Gray was handcuffed and placed in the back of a police van, but he was not secured in a seat belt. Officers claimed Gray was acting “irate” so they stopped the van along the way and placed him in leg irons. At the police station, Gray was found unconscious in the back of the van. He was taken to the shock trauma unit at a Baltimore hospital with severe neck and spinal injuries.
On April 18, protesters gathered outside the western district police station where Gray was taken after his arrest. The next morning, Gray, who had been in a coma, died from his injuries. As the day wore on, protests began to grow outside the station and at city hall and police headquarters. On April 20, police officials said that Gray had asked for medical attention during his ride to the station but did not receive aid. The six officers involved in the incident were identified on April 21. Three were white and three were African American. All were suspended without pay.
The protests in Baltimore began to grow even larger, with demonstrators marching from the site of Gray’s arrest to the western district police station. Officers erected barriers outside the station and donned riot gear, but for the time being, the protests remained relatively peaceful. On April 23, Maryland governor Larry Hogan dispatched a contingent of state troopers to Baltimore. The next day, civil rights groups called upon Hogan to hold a special legislative session to address issues of poverty and police brutality. At the same time, Baltimore police admitted that Gray should have been properly secured in a seat belt while in the van and should have received the medical attention he requested.
On April 25, a crowd of thousands of protesters marched on city hall to demand the six officers involved be prosecuted in Gray’s death. The tension that had been growing in Baltimore sparked its first violence that same day when fans at a sports bar outside Camden Yards baseball stadium began fighting with protesters. Several police cars were damaged and downtown store windows broken before police eventually dispersed the crowd. At the western district police station, a crowd of protesters threw bricks and rocks at police in riot gear.
Gray’s funeral was held on Monday, April 27. Police were on high alert and increased their presence even further after they received reports that fliers and social media posts were calling for a period of lawlessness among the city’s high school students. In response to the threat, the city decided to close down public transportation. After a group of students were forced off buses at the Mondawmin Mall, fights broke out between the students and police. Protesters showered police with rocks and bottles, while police fired back with tear gas and nonlethal projectiles.
By nightfall, rioting had spread throughout West Baltimore and the downtown. The rioters smashed store windows, looted businesses, and set several buildings on fire. The governor declared a state of emergency and called in the National Guard. Maryland State Police requested help from police in neighboring states. Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake ordered a city-wide curfew from 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. Scattered fighting between police and protesters continued into April 28. About one hundred people, who were arrested but not charged during the previous night’s rioting, were released.
Confrontations between police and protesters continued for several days but began to tail off. On April 30, police issued their report on Gray’s death, saying his fatal injuries occurred while he was being transported in the van. The next day, Maryland’s attorney general ruled Gray’s death a homicide. The six officers involved were charged with crimes ranging from second-degree murder to involuntary manslaughter and assault. When the charges were announced, protesters celebrated in the streets. On May 4, the National Guard left Baltimore.
No one was killed in the rioting, but nineteen police officers were injured, about two hundred people were arrested, and fifteen buildings and more than one hundred cars were set on fire. Damage from the riots was later estimated at $20 million. The trial of the first officer to be tried in Gray’s death ended in a mistrial in December 2015. Three officers tried in early 2016 were acquitted of their charges. With convictions now unlikely, the state dropped charges against the remaining three officers in July 2016.
Bibliography
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