|
 Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said police would release
surveillance camera photos involving the death of Freddie Gray, 25,
who died on Sunday a week after being arrested. A preliminary
autopsy report said he had suffered a spinal injury.
Gray's death has sparked days of protests in the largely black city
of about 620,000 people. More than 1,000 protesters are expected in
Baltimore for a march from the site of his arrest to City Hall on
Saturday, police said.
"We're getting closer and the picture is getting sharper and sharper
as we move forward," Batts told a news conference, adding that
"multiple gaps" still remained.
The incident was the latest in a string of deaths of black men at
the hands of police, including in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York
City, which have prompted waves of protest across the United States.
 Gray and a second man fled when officers approached them in a
high-crime area on April 12, police said. Gray was nabbed and
arrested for carrying a switchblade knife.
Batts said Gray was put in a police van for transport to a police
station and he was not buckled in at any time, as regulations
required. Police also repeatedly failed to give him medical
assistance, he said.
Deputy Commissioner Kevin Davis said the van stopped once to put
Gray in leg restraints, followed by a second stop. "The facts of
that interaction are under investigation," he said.
The van stopped a third time to pick up a second suspect, who was
put in the back of the vehicle with a metal barrier separating the
men. A police witness has said Gray was talking then, Davis said.
"They pick him up off the floor and place him on the seat at that
time. He says he needs a medic," Davis said.
When the van arrived at the Western District police station, an
ambulance was called and Gray was taken to a hospital.
PEACEFUL PROTESTS
Police will complete their investigation by May 1 and turn the
results over to state prosecutors, to be followed by an independent
review. Six police officers have been suspended.
Batts also rejected a call from the head of a ministers' group for
his resignation and urged protesters attending Saturday's rally to
carry out a peaceful demonstration.
[to top of second column] |
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake on Friday also praised organizers of
peaceful protests over Gray's death. Unlike in Ferguson, where
peaceful protests were punctuated by rioting, arson and looting,
protests in Baltimore have seen only a handful of arrests and no
major violence.
Unlike in Ferguson, where police turned to paramilitary tactics,
donning riot helmets and vests and rolling out armored vehicles to
confront protesters, Baltimore police have remained in patrol
uniforms and given protesters a wide berth.
Police have maintained barricades preventing protesters from
approaching the domed City Hall, and the station house where Gray
was taken has been blocked off by barriers.
Ken Jones, a police spokesman, said Baltimore police had taken
lessons from the Ferguson unrest. "We don't want to come off
heavy-handed, yet," Jones said.
But Scott Bolden, a Washington lawyer with expertise in cases
involving police, said U.S. police generally had seen the value of
officers remaining non-confrontational in the face of protests.
Police forces across the United States, he said, have "learned how
not to handle these issues, based on what we saw in Ferguson."
The U.S. Department of Justice is conducting a separate probe into
Gray's death. A wake for Gray is scheduled for Sunday, with his
funeral on Monday.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Scott Malone, Richard Chang
and Eric Beech)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
