Marches are filling the streets in several cities across the country this Friday, as a show of solidarity with Freddie Gray, his family and Baltimore protesters – and at least one Baltimore officer has warned his department, “It’s about to get ugly.”
In Baltimore, protesters met in Union Square in a protest dubbed “May Day for Freddie Gray,” a reference to the May 1 celebration originally promoted by socialists and communists as “International Workers’ Day.”
On Friday, Buzzfeed News reported Baltimore Police Sgt. Lennardo Bailey addressed a May 1 letter to “Eastern Command Staff” warning, “I respectfully report that we are being challenged on the street. I have been to five calls today and [at] three of those five calls for service, I have been challenged to a fight. Some of them I blew off but one of them almost got ugly.”
Bailey continued, “I don’t want anybody to say that I did not tell them what is going on. This is no intel; this is really what’s going on the street. This is my formal notification. It is about to get ugly.”
Buzzfeed News said the letter was provided by an anonymous source. According to the report, Baltimore Police Department’s chief of patrol sent the following text message to commanders: “2 OFFICERS PER CAR.. DOUBLE UP ALL PATROL CARS.”
Meanwhile, according to live tweets from the scene, hundreds of protesters have gathered outside city hall, saying they will disregard the Baltimore curfew at 10 p.m. EST.
This photo was posted on Twitter at 9:30 EST saying people in the crowd outside Baltimore’s City Hall have declared their intentions to ignore the city curfew
Family members of Gray allege he was injured at the hands of police, and those injuries led to his death at a hospital several days later. As WND reported earlier Friday, Gray’s death has been ruled a homicide. Marilyn Mosby, the state’s attorney in charge of the investigation of the death of Freddie Gray, said at a press conference Friday the medical report indicates there was “probable cause” that a crime occurred, and the involved officers have all been charged with a variety of offenses, including manslaughter. She also said the autopsy report, which has been sent to prosecutors, shows Gray was not properly handled during his arrest and that examiners concluded his death was due to homicide.
Six officers have been charged with a variety of crimes, including second degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, assault, misconduct, false imprisonment and negligent. Shortly after the charges were read, the crowd rallied about Mosby’s podium let out an audible cheer.
In Oakland, California, more than 1,000 protesters gathered outside city hall “decrying racism, police brutality and income inequality in a loud, sign-waving march from the Port of Oakland to Frank Ogawa Plaza in downtown Oakland,” the Associated Press reported. The protesters held signs stating. “racism is the Disease,” “Black Lives Matter” and “Stop Police Brutality.”
In Chicago, Illinois, an estimated 400 people marched in observance of May Day and to protest police brutality.
And in Washington, ABC News reported, “Dozens of Seattle protesters at a Black Lives Matter event joined hundreds who gathered for workers’ and immigrants’ rights.”
ABC News also reported that high-school students in Minneapolis, Minnesota walked out of school and marched downtown to protest Freddie Gray’s case.
A Denver protest drew only about 25 people.
On Wednesday, protests took place in Boston, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Minneapolis, New York, Washington, and Ferguson, Missouri.
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from PropagandaGuard https://propagandaguard.wordpress.com/2015/05/02/baltimore-cop-warns-its-about-to-get-ugly-2/
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