Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake plans to meet Friday afternoon with more than two dozen clergy members, activists and community leaders at City Hall in an effort to keep lines of communication open about the death of Freddie Gray — and express concern about out-of-town protesters.
“The mayor wants to make sure that we are providing them with everything they need to make sure people can protest peacefully,” said Kevin Harris, Rawlings-Blake’s spokesman. “Like the mayor, Baltimore is their home. It’s where they grew up. They don’t want to see outside influences come in and have a negative impact. The mayor is determined to not let us go backwards.”
Gray suffered a spinal cord injury while in police custody on April 12. He died seven days later. Critics say a lack of thorough public explanations as to why Gray was stopped or how he was injured has heightened tension in a city struggling with allegations of police brutality and racial issues as the nation wrestles with similar problems.
A witness told the Baltimore Sun that he found Gray near the Gilmore Homes complex handcuffed and planted face down on the ground with one Baltimore bicycle police officer’s knee on his neck and another bicycle officer bending his legs backward. He was then placed in a police van.
Police officials have not directly linked Gray’s van ride to his injuries but did say that he was not buckled in, as required by department policy.
Hundreds have taken to Baltimore’s streets to protest for nearly a week. But some local leaders say they’re worried about the impact of out-of-town activists.
For instance, the Rev. Heber Brown, of the Pleasant Hope Baptist Church, posted a video on YouTube asking out-of-town activists to avoid violence and follow the lead of Baltimore activists.
“We would ask that those who are not from Baltimore … that you would be so kind to defer to those of us from the community here,” Brown says.
The Rev. Frank M. Reid, of Bethel AME Church, said he plans on attending the meeting with Rawlings-Blake on Friday.
“We all need to be updated about what’s going on and what is the status of the investigation,” Reid said. “Because Baltimore has a strong community, we don’t need help from outside of our city and state to deal with this. As you can see, there have been protests that have been very peaceful.
“We’re all working to get justice for Freddie Gray’s family,” Reid said. “As a city, we are well capable to make sure justice is done.”
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