Family wants answers into Freddie Gray’s death while in police custody

Residents and family are angry over the killing of Freddie Gray, who died while in police custody. Yesterday’s protests were all over various news stations today.

Gray died of a spinal injury Sunday, exactly one week after he was taken into custody.
CNN reports, demonstrators marched to a local police station that was protected by barricades.

Among the crowd were members of Gray’s family, including his mother. She held her head and cried. Many of the protesters clasped hands, and raised them in a show of support. “Make some noise for Freddie Gray,” one man shouted into a megaphone.

“We won’t stop,” said another. “We have the power and, of course, today shows we have the numbers.”

Speaking to CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said she understands where the protesters are coming from. She understands their frustration.

“Mr. Gray’s family deserves justice, and our community deserves an opportunity to heal, to get better, and to make sure that something like this doesn’t happen again,” she said.

Freddie Gray’s Death

The Baltimore Police Department has released the names of six police officers involved. They have been suspended with pay.

Photo By Alex Lozupone

They are: Lt. Brian Rice, 41, who joined the department in 1997; Officer Caesar Goodson, 45, who joined in 1999; Sgt. Alicia White, 30, who joined in 2010; Officer William Porter, 25, who joined in 2012; Officer Garrett Miller, 26, who joined in 2012; and Officer Edward Nero, 29, who joined in 2012.

Of the six officers, three were on bikes and initially approached Gray, another made eye contact with Gray, another officer joined in the arrest after it was initiated and one drove the police van.

Gray’s autopsy hasn’t provided any questions into his death, but the mayor pledges to find out how the 25-year-old died after being arrested a week prior.

“I’m going to make sure that as we get information that we can confirm, we’re going to put that information out in the public,” Mayor Rawlings-Blake said. “I want people to understand that I have no interest in hiding information, holding back information.”

The family wants to know why was he stopped in the first place and why medical assistant wasn’t provided when Gray initially asked for it.

The video that was released shows Gray being dragged into the police van.

“We know that when he was finally taken out of the van, he was unresponsive,” said Mayor Rawlings-Blake.

“We will get to the bottom of it, and we will go where the facts lead us,” she said. “We will hold people accountable if we find there was wrongdoing.”

The Justice Department has been watching developments in the Gray case and is officially looking into whether a prosecutable civil rights violation occurred, a spokesperson said Tuesday.