RIOTS IN BALTIMORE AFTER MAN DIES FROM SPINAL CORD INJURIES BY POLICE

Street gangs reportedly issue threat against police, warning disseminated nationwide

By Miriam Raftery

April 27, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – Another city has erupted in violent protests over alleged police brutality. Rioting has broken out in Baltimore, Maryland after the funeral of Freddie Gray, an African-American who died after suffering spinal injuries while in a van in police custody.

Rioters set fire to police cars and a pharmacy, sabotaged fire hoses and hurled bricks at police officers.  At least 15 police officers have been injured, Associated Press reports. Looting has also been reported. A senior center built by a church has also been torched.

Baltimore Police posted a warning on its website stating Crips, Bloods and Black Guerillas Family street gangs have entered into a partnership to “take out” police officers. The department asked media to disseminate the message nationwide.

The National Guard has been deployed at the request of Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, who called the move a last resort. 

Newly appointed Attorney General Loretta Lynch, on her first day in office, says she will send Justice Department officials to the beleaguered city. The officers involved in Gray’s injuries are suspended without pay while an investigation is in progress.

The riots follow a string of fatal incidents involving white police officers and black suspects. 

Those include the deadly shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager in Ferguson, stopped for walking in the street Missouri. Some witnesses said Brown had his hands up to surrender after an altercation with the officer, but the officer contended he shot in self defense. 

Later in 2014, New York Police fatally choked Eric Garner, who was accused of selling cigarettes illegally; video showed Garner repeatedly gasping “I can’t breathe.”

Then in early April 2015, video showed a Charleston, South Carolina officer fatally shooting Walter Scott in the back as he was running away. That officer, Michael Slager, is  charged with murder.