Marchers Protest Police Violence in Baltimore, New York
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Protesters marched against police violence in cities from New York to Denver on Wednesday, and a large demonstration in Baltimore ended peacefully two days after rioting over the death of a black man injured in police custody.
The protests were the latest actions against racial profiling and police use of lethal force sparked by the deaths of African-American men in Cleveland; Ferguson, Missouri; New York and elsewhere in the past year.
New York City police arrested more than 60 people as protesters roved in separate groups through Manhattan, blocking traffic in a few areas. Smaller protests occurred in Boston, Houston, Ferguson, Missouri, Washington, D.C., Seattle and a handful of demonstrators were arrested in Denver.
In Baltimore, 3,000 National Guard troops and police stood by to enforce a 10 p.m. curfew as thousands of peaceful marchers converged on city hall. The march capped a day of calm in a city that two days earlier saw its worst rioting in decades.
Protesters in the mostly black city of Baltimore sought answers about the fate of Freddie Gray, 25, who died after suffering spinal injuries while in police custody. Police are due on Friday to give their findings on Gray's death to prosecutors but said no information will be made public.
"Can't stop, won't stop, put killer cops in cell blocks," chanted protesters in the biggest march in Baltimore since Gray died on April 19, a week after his arrest and injury.
Nineteen buildings and dozens of cars burned, stores were looted and 20 officers were hurt in Baltimore on Monday in a spasm of violence hours after Gray's funeral.
"This is for everyone who died wrongly at the hands of police," said Noy Brown-Frisby, a 35-year-old hairstylist who attended Wednesday's march with her young daughter.
But she recognized that high crime in the city of 620,000 people complicates relations with the police, Reuters reported.
"There is so much tension. The crime is so high that when there is interaction between police and the community it becomes volatile," she said.
In New York City, police on scooters used batons to try to keep protesters on sidewalks and arrested people who moved into traffic.
The demonstrations from Union Square to Times Square and elsewhere, were reminiscent of similar demonstrations in December after a grand jury decided against charges in the case of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man who died after a police officer put him in a chokehold.
Many Baltimore citizens were hoping to find out the details of Gray's death on Friday when police have said they would conclude their investigation.
