Thousands protest in US over police ‘injustices’

A PROTESTER is detained by New York police during a demonstration calling for social, economic and racial justice, in the Manhattan borough of New York City on April 29. Thousands demonstrated in US East Coast cities on Wednesday demanding equal treatment for all by police, after a young African-American died of injuries sustained in custody in Baltimore.

The biggest show of people power was in Baltimore itself — epicenter of the latest racially tinged unrest to convulse the United States — where several thousand mostly young demonstrators paralyzed city blocks in a major rally through downtown to City Hall.

Thousands more protested in New York, the capital Washington and Boston in solidarity, as simmering anger over alleged police brutality against blacks and discrimination again bubbled to the surface. The protests were overwhelmingly peaceful and good-natured, although New York police said they had arrested more than 60 demonstrators. Emotions were running high, and scuffles broke out.

The calm in Baltimore, for the second night running, was a far cry from the violence and looting which flared there following the funeral of Freddie Gray, 25, on Monday. The circumstances surrounding Gray’s death are unclear, but six officers have been suspended with pay. The results of an investigation into his death are to be handed over Friday to prosecutors, but not made public right away, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie RawlingsBlake said. She said many in the community had been under the mistaken belief the report would be made public on Friday, stoking fears of another outburst of violence.

Adding to the confusion, The Washington Post, citing a police document, said a prisoner sharing a police transport van with Mr. Gray told investigators that he could hear Mr. Gray “banging against the walls” of the vehicle and believed that he “was intentionally trying to injure himself.” The prisoner, who is in jail, was separated from Mr. Gray by a metal partition and could not see him, the report said. Mr. Gray died seven days after his arrest with 80% of his spine severed at the neck, lawyers for his family say, portraying him as just the latest young African-American to die at the hands of the police.

In New York City, protesters gathered at Union Square, in Lower Manhattan, for a rally dubbed on a Facebook page, “NYC Rise up and Shut it down with Baltimore.” The large march initially met no resistance from police, but that swiftly changed as officers — who deployed in significant numbers — moved in and made arrests. Police told AFP more than 60 people were arrested. In Washington, there was a festive atmosphere as a well-organized march that peaked at about 1,000 ended at the White House, where protesters chanted and held signs reading, “Stop racist police terror.” — AFP