Marchers on the Move Again in Baltimore
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- on Thursday, April 30, 2015
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More than 1,000 demonstrators marched through downtown Baltimore on Wednesday in what Police Commissioner Anthony Batts called an "extremely peaceful" protest demanding more justice for African-Americans.
The crowd marched from the city's main train station to City Hall and back again. Police said they fully expected everyone to heed the city's overnight curfew.
Other marches were held in Washington, Boston and New York City, where police arrested demonstrators who tried to disrupt downtown traffic.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan declared Baltimore safe Wednesday, following two nights of demonstrations sparked by the death of a young African-American man in police custody. Commuters packed buses and subways, and public schools reopened. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra played a free outdoor concert.
But the Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox played a baseball game in an empty stadium. Police said they needed to deploy elsewhere in the city and could not provide enough security at the game.
Violence erupted Monday after the funeral for Freddie Gray, 25, who suffered a still-unexplained severe spinal injury while in police custody. He had been arrested and thrown into a police van; officers drove him to jail without securing him with a seat belt as required, and they allegedly ignored his pleas for medical attention.
The six officers involved in the arrest are on paid administrative leave while the investigation proceeds. Police plan to turn the results of their investigation over to the state's attorney's office Friday, who will then decide whether to charge the officers with a crime.
The U.S. Justice Department and the FBI also are conducting a civil rights investigation into Gray's death.
After the funeral, rampaging crowds poured into the streets, with protesters burning stores and nearly 150 cars and looting a shopping mall. Police arrested 235 people; 20 officers were injured.
But many protesters said the violence was not just about Gray, but about what they called the habitual poor treatment of blacks by police and the city's alleged unwillingness to do anything about it.
They also said they were angered by what they saw as a lack of economic power, something they said has persisted for decades in black neighborhoods.
The situation was calmer from Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, the first night of the seven-hour overnight curfew that will remain in effect all week. Police made 35 arrests. Officers and National Guard troops dispersed protesters, even as some of the protesters jeered and threw bottles at them.
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