What does stealing from CVS and setting that store on fire have to do with Police brutality? Counterproductive Folks!

You do NOT fight violence with more violence. It makes what happened to Freddie Gray a secondary issue when we have to pay attention to watching people set cars on fire and stealing from other people that are not police. We have raised so much awareness over the last 5 to 10 years about the prison industrial complex, the so called war on drugs, private prisons (for profits), and how black people are incarcerated at a huge rate compared to everyone else. We are making major head ways in real ways that are NON violent. Think about it. No one knew about these issues 10 years ago. Now, its common place because of people like me and certain media people. Laws need to be changed. That's where we are at today and by looting and hurting people just sets that back big time. The Police are gung ho. We know it. No one trusts them. Most are dumb asses. They can't get that job being smart people (what I mean is that to become a cop on the street or to become a state trooper, they have to test at a median level and anyone that scores high grades on that test, will NOT get that gig). We know that fact. But, we need to solve a huge issue. We do NOT need to steal from other small business owners. We do not need to hurt people just because they hurt us/you. Get at them where it really hurts. By Law. Everyone is angry. I am angry. We are all angry (and scared). What is stealing going to do about that anger?

Regardless of how I feel about being set back again, Baltimore Riots include Looting Clash Tears Gas Freddie Gray Protesters Clashes Freddy Gray Destroy Stores Protest Erupts In Chaos A Police Car Camera Woman Gets Robbed While Covering Baltimore Protests! Kept It Real: Dude Goes In On How The Media & The System Are Portraying The Baltimore Protests! Scenes Of Chaos In Baltimore As Thousands Protest Freddie Gray’s Death! Cars Get Smashed 4/25/2015!!

Several thousand protesters have converged in the US city of Baltimore to protest over the death of 25-year-old black man Freddie Gray while in police custody. Gray died on Sunday after sustaining multiple injuries which included three fractures in his neck vertebrae, a smashed voicebox and the severing of 80 per cent of his spine from his neck. Gray had been in police custody for a week, having been arrested in a high-crime neighbourhood after he made eye contact with police and fled. After he was caught he was found to be carrying a knife. Melissa Ealey, Gray’s cousin, told Al Jazeera that no crime perpetrated could warrant such abuse.

“There is no reason the police had to conduct themselves in a manner to where…it cost him his life," Ealey said. "I can understand breaking the law is wrong but the way they apprehended him and the things they did were completely against protocol and just inhumane as a whole."


National epidemic' of violence

Signs in hand, with slogans such as "Jail Killer Police" and "Unite Here," demonstrators from different racial backgrounds flooded two city blocks and marched to city hall, where the crowd overtook a plaza. March organiser and lawyer Malik Shabazz described violence against by American police officers as "a national epidemic against black men".

Al Jazeera's Shihab Rattansi, who was reporting from Baltimore's city hall, said the marchers had converged on the city centre and were now headed towards Baltimore's Oriole Park Major League Baseball stadium at Camden Yards where Baltimore's Orioles were later set to take on the Boston Red Sox.


Rattansi said police had attended the protest but were keeping a safe distance, as the protesters called for sweeping national policy changes on how cases of police brutality should be dealt with. Their demands included the establishment of an independent civilian review board in every city to review the cases, immediate suspension without pay for police officers accused of violence and protection for whistleblowers so they could freely speak about police brutality without retaliation.


"Speaker after speakers keep saying here, when a genocide is happening against you, why would you ask the people committing it what is going on," our reporter said. Stafford Sutton, an activist who attended the march, said changes to federal policies were required to defuse anger after a spate of recent cases of police brutality. "I've seen a lot of individuals who have been done wrong. A federal mandate needs to be brought down. We have to go through the process, we have to follow it through and go to Washington," Sutton said. 


Demonstrators have flooded the streets of Baltimore almost every day since Gray's death, although Saturday's rally was the largest. Gray's death has been compared to those of other unarmed black men who died at the hands of police in New York City and Ferguson, Missouri, and has intensified a national debate over police treatment of African-Americans.


The US Department of Justice is conducting a separate probe into Gray's death. A wake for Gray is scheduled for Sunday, with his funeral to be held on Monday. Rioters looted stores and hurled rocks and bricks at Baltimore police Monday, injuring several officers just hours after thousands mourned the man who died after suffering a severe spinal injury in police custody.


A helicopter circled overhead as groups of rioters moved through the city. One group piled onto and rode a car as it drove down the street. Monday's riot was the latest flare-up over the mysterious death of Freddie Gray, whose fatal encounter with officers came amid the national debate over police use of force, especially when black suspects are involved. Gray was African-American.


Police urged parents to locate their children and bring them home. Many of those on the streets appeared to be African-American youths, wearing backpacks and khaki pants that are a part of many public school uniforms. The riot broke out just as high school let out, and at a key city bus depot for student commuters.


Many who had never met Gray gathered earlier in the day in a Baltimore church to bid him farewell and press for more accountability among law enforcement. Early in the service, the attorney representing Gray's family, Billy Murphy, received a standing ovation after calling on the six officers who arrested him to tell the public what happened.


"This is our moment to get at truth. This is our moment to get it right," Murphy said. The 2,500-capacity New Shiloh Baptist church was filled with mourners. But even the funeral could not ease mounting tensions. Police said in a news release sent while the funeral was underway that the department had received a "credible threat" that three notoriously violent gangs are now working together to "take out" law enforcement officers.


A small group of mourners started lining up about two hours ahead of Monday's funeral. Placed atop Gray's body was a white pillow with a screened picture of him. A projector aimed at two screens on the walls showed the words "Black Lives Matter & All Lives Matter."The service lasted nearly two hours, with dignitaries in attendance including former Maryland representative and NAACP leader Kweisi Mfume and current Maryland Rep. John Sarbanes.


Erica Garner, 24, the daughter of Eric Garner, attended Gray's funeral. She said she came after seeing video of Gray's arrest, which she said reminded her of her father's shouts that he could not breathe when he was being arrested on a New York City street. Garner died during the confrontation. "It's like there is no accountability, no justice," she said. "It's like we're back in the '50s, back in the Martin Luther King days. When is our day to be free going to come?"


With the Rev. Jesse Jackson sitting behind him, the Rev. Jamal Bryant gave a rousing and spirited eulogy for Freddie Gray, a message that received a standing ovation from the crowded church. "Freddie's death is not in vain," Bryant said. "After this day, we're going to keep on marching. After this day, we're going to keep demanding justice."


Gray was arrested one week before he died when officers chased him through a West Baltimore neighborhood and dragged him into a police van. Police said Gray was arrested after he made eye contact with officers and ran away. Officers held him down, handcuffed him and loaded him into the van. While inside, he became irate and leg cuffs were put on him, police have said.


Gray asked for medical help several times, beginning before he was placed in the van. After a 30-minute ride that included three stops, paramedics were called. Authorities have not explained how or when Gray's spine was injured.


Police acknowledged Friday that Gray should have received medical attention on 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 police department's policy. Associated Press writer Amanda Lee Myers contributed to this report.