A year after Freddie Gray's death, two Baltimores: Column
Columnist follows an activist and interviews a cop pushing for change to see if progress has been made
The death of Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old unarmed, black man arrested by Baltimore police last Spring, capped off a string of police incidents met with city-wide protests last year.
Use of force cases in Ferguson, New York, Ohio and South Carolina brought Black Lives Matter protesters and others to towns demanding answers. In Baltimore, businesses were destroyed and cars set on fire in riots after the April 19, 2015 death of Gray, now called the Baltimore Uprising.
Ultimately, six police officers were indicted for Gray’s death with the first officer’s trial ending in a hung jury.
However, there has been less media attention on the protests that have continued outside of city hall, many over the incarceration of activists arrested during the Uprising. That’s where I found Kwame Rose. The young activist gained national attention after squaring off with Geraldo Rivera during a moment he didn't even realize was being televised.
I also talked to Lt. Col. Melvin Russell, chief of the Community Partnership Division for the Baltimore Police Department.
In the podcast below we hear the voices of two men on opposite sides of the policing fight. Surprisingly they agree on some of the problems that have plagued the city's police department (and on what caused Gray's death).
But have massive protests and an ongoing trial caused police in Baltimore to change?
It depends on who you ask.