People seeking racial justice in Baltimore planned a day of prayer and healing for Sunday, even as dozens of protesters were arrested Saturday night for breaking a curfew set to expire early Monday.
As of 11 p.m. local time on Saturday, about 20 protesters reportedly had been arrested, including one that was hit with a blast of pepper spray and was later taken away in an ambulance. Other reports put the number of arrests as high as 50 overnight. The Guardian reported that legal observers and medical volunteers were among those arrested, Al-Jazeera reported.
City leaders refused calls to lift the curfew following the city’s top prosecutor’s announcement that charges had been filed against six officers accused of fatally injuring a black man in police custody. The death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray had sparked rioting and days of protests in the US East Coast port city over alleged police racism and brutality.
Many in the majority black city erupted with joy on Friday after the officers involved in the arrest were charged, in contrast to what happened after the deaths of unarmed black men over the past year in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York, where authorities found police broke no laws and officers involved were not charged.
While the charges announced by Mosby brought relief to the city of 620,000, residents said they needed to see justice served, not only in Baltimore but in other US communities where they feel minorities are disproportionately targeted and badly treated by police.
