Freddie Gray's Sacrifice

Jon Stewart’s Baltimore report focuses on the lack of urgency within the city council. Stewart opens up with comparing older riots to the “lawless” acts in Baltimore. It was made clear that Baltimore was in shambles prior to the protests that broke out due to Freddie Gray’s death. Stewart also explains that people should stop ignoring the roots of the problems in the communities.

Race riots are one of the major news items we hear about via the media when a social crisis occurs. The riots in Baltimore, however, were not so much about race, but more about economic and social class separations. The riots began as a peaceful protest amongst the citizens of Baltimore over the death of one of their own, Freddie Gray. Gray was a young, African-American, from a financially lower class area of Baltimore. Unfortunately, he died while in custody of the Baltimore Police. While this is a tragic loss, he was unlawfully detained by the police (Sarlin, 2015) during this ordeal. On the surface, the riots may appear as a cut-and-dry race provoked, once they are looked into further, that is not necessarily the case.

Social and economic disparities are plaguing the city of Baltimore. There are numerous issues that the city of Baltimore is facing, many of which did not come to light until the case of Freddie Gray. On April 2015, a 25-year-old black man by the name of Freddie Gray fell victim to police brutality. After the discovery of his death and the unreasonable way he was treated, Baltimoreans began to protest. The anger and frustration began to escalate due to other social and economic problems the city faces regularly.

In the weeks that followed the death of Freddie Gray at the hands of the Baltimore police, a group of protestors known as BlackLivesMatter, gathered with the intentions of demanding public awareness over the persistent discrimination and violence that African Americans are subjected to by Police Officers around the Country. Following Mr. Gray’s death, on April 25th of 2015, a small number of protestors attending the B.L.M. protest turned an otherwise non-violent protest into a violent bout of civil disorder which led to several dozen arrests, an estimated 15 officer injuries and mass rioting, looting and burning of the local businesses including a CVS pharmacy. Ultimately, a state of emergency was declared and the National Guard was brought in to resolve the conflicts.

The events of the Detroit Riots are much like the 2015 Baltimore Riots of today. Freddie Gray, who was apparently in good health at the time of his arrest, sustained neck and spine injuries while in transport in a police vehicle. Gray was in a coma and died the following day. What initially started out as peaceful protests began due to the inability of the police to adequately or consistently explain the events following the arrest and the injuries sustained by Gray in police car, turned violent after Gray’s funeral. Stores were looted, rocks were being thrown at the police and buildings and cars were set on fire. The end result was at least 400 people arrested with hundreds injured including police and civilians along with hundreds of businesses

The Baltimore riots began on Monday, April 27th, 2014 sparked by the death of Freddie Gray. He died under the hands of police custody and it triggered an anger that has been building up over the months by African American who are desperate for justice. In our community I feel as if every person should feel welcomed and loved and not excluded or made an outcast based on their race, beliefs, gender or disability. This is very important because lately there has been much discrimination on the news and in our community by misunderstanding and it has lead to a lot of misunderstanding.

Baltimore police union president, gene ryan, compared those protesting the death of Freddie Gray to a “lunch mob.”

When it rains, it pours; and where tragedy strikes, a war will follow. This is what comes to mind when the subject of Baltimore arises. The unexpected death of a young Baltimore man, Freddie Gray, while in police custody, sparked the flame in the city’s ongoing rage and riots. Autopsy reports showed signs of “high-energy injury “as the cause of death, suggesting neglect from the arresting officers (New York Times, 2015). When information was leaked of this tragedy, people in the community were negatively affected, and many began to riot. At this point, the question is not how to stop the rioting, but how to prevent it?

On April 12, 2015, Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old man, was arrested by the Baltimore Police Department for having an illegal  knife. While being transported in a police van, Gray went in a coma and was taken to a trauma center. Freddie died on April 19, 2015. His death was because of injuries to his spinal cord. On April 21, 2015, an investigation was started to investigate his death. Six Baltimore police officers were suspended with pay.

Peaceful protests the day before Gray’s death were just the beginning of a long string of outbreaks and violence. Community members were seen rallying behind their fallen friend as they peacefully protested outside of Western District Police Station. These protests slowly became more violent as protesters were met by officers. When on-duty officers could not hold back the rapidly growing crowd, all officers were called to meet the protesters. Officers alone could not hold back the enraged community as the National Guard was called in by the Governor of Maryland to reinforce officers. Peaceful protests turned to rage filled riots as police vehicles and officers themselves became victim of communal hatred. The night of April 27th had sent many officers to receive medical treatment as the riots poured into the business district (Timeline: Freddie Gray’s…). Small stores and even homes were ransacked and burned by rioters in the streets of Baltimore. Cleanup efforts quickly ensued in the city and riots still raged on. May 1st is when the community could finally take its first breath after a month. All six officers were charged in the case of Freddie Gray with the most severe being second degree depraved heart murder (Charges against

im pretty sure we 've all heard of the freddy grey case in baltimore. if you haven 't freddie grey was a victim of alleged police brutality which lead to his death in police custody, it sparked nationwide outrage and protests.This outrage mainly exists because the officers who could say what happened are protected by a Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights, which limits and delays questioning police about potential misconduct. In discussion of Baltimore and Bolstering a Police Officers’ Right to Remain Silent,we will analyze facts and opinions from three people in the nytimes/room for debate section who gave their opinion on this matter..

Gray’s death sparked protests, civil unrest and rioting. Maryland Governor Lawrence Hogan declared a state of emergency in the city and implemented citywide curfews. A medical examiner ruled Gray’s death a homicide and six Baltimore PD officers were subsequently charged and implicated in his death.

The people of charlotte north Carolina took to the murder just like the city of Baltimore took to the act of murder by a black man by the police in their city. The riot was violent that it took attention to every news cast. In this riot police were

They blocked traffic to the Brooklyn Bridge, shouting racial slurs at the public and the mayor at the time, joined in. In an incident right after the City Hall protest, as police were leaving, several off-duty officers, all in civilian clothes, assaulted a man on the subway who had stepped on one of the officer's feet. The man claimed that he apologized but that the officer attempted to punch the man. The man cut the officer with a razor blade and the other officers, six of them, beat him viciously. (Police Brutality).

Black Lives Matter began as a social media hashtag that later transformed into a social movement after George Zimmerman’s acquittal in the killing of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year old black boy. The social media hashtag did not pick up until November 25, 2014 (Demby); the day police officer Darren Wilson was not indicted after shooting and killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year old black boy. Quickly after the decision was heard, “#blacklivesmatter” came to life via thousands of protestors. Unfortunately, this was not the last injustice to cause a Black Lives Matter protest. Shortly after, about a week and a half later, another grand jury decides to not indict another officer for the murder of Eric Garner. Eric Garner was put in a chokehold that eventually led to his death in NYC, even though the NYPD prohibits use of chokeholds. When the decision was made to not indict the officer, thousands of protestors took to the streets of NYC, Dallas, and several other major cities. The murders of Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and several others sparked similar, if not larger, protest across the country.