NATIONAL GUARD, POLICE
AND STATE
AGENCIES ARE HERE TO KEEP THE
POLICE.
IT'S BEEN NEARLY THREE WEEKS
SINCE FREDDIE GRAY WAS ARRESTED.
11 DAYS SINCE HIS DEATH.
AND THE
CASE WAS OFFICIALLY
HANDED OVER TO STATE
PROSECUTORS.
THE I-TEAM'S DEBORAH WEINER IS
HERE TO EXPLAIN HOW WE GOT TO
THIS POINT.
DEBORAH: I THINK A LOT OF US
HAVE TRIED TO RECALL, EXACTLY
HOW AND WHEN THIS ALL BEGAN.
SO WE GO BACK, NOT FAR, BECAUSE
A LOT HAS HAPPENED IN FEWER THAN
3 WEEKS.
JUST 19 DAYS AGO, WE CAN MARK AS
THE TIME BEFORE, BEFORE THE
WORLD KNEW A MAN NAMED FREDDIE
GRAY.
WERE IT NOT FOR CELLPHONE VIDEO,
IT IS VERY POSSIBLE THAT
25-YEAR-OLD GRAY WOULD HAVE DIED
AS A MAN KNOWN ONLY IN HIS WEST
BALTIMORE NEIGHBORHOOD.
WE BEGIN WITH BREAKING NEWS
OUT OF BALTIMORE WHERE HUNDREDS
ARE GATHERING AND PROTEST
OUTSIDE A POLICE STATION,
OUTRAGED OVER A MAN WHO SUFFERED
A SPINAL INJURY WHILE IN POLICE
CUSTODY.
DEBORAH: IT WAS A SLOW,
SIMMERING BOIL, WITH DAILY
PROTESTS OUTSIDE THE WESTERN
POLICE DISTRICT, TENSE, BUT
CALM.
CONSTANT, YET CONTROLLED.
THERE'S PAIN IN OUR COMMUNITY
AND REACTING TO TRAUMA AND PAIN
WITHIN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.
DEBORAH:
TO TRAUMA AND PAIN IN
THE POLICE DEPT.
-- DEBRA
OH: IT BECAME CLEAR
QUICKLY THAT THIS WAS NOT JUST
ABOUT ONE MAN, BUT SO MANY MEN
WITH LONG HELD CONCERNS ABOUT
POLICE PRACTICES IN BALTIMORE
CITY.
HE WAS
ARRESTED FOR RUNNING
WELL BLACK, OR AS WE SAY,
FILLING RUNNING.
IT COULD HAVE BEEN ME OR YOU.
DEBORAH: ALMOST A WEEK AFTER THE
DEATH OF FREDDIE GRAY, A HUGE
NATIONAL RALLY AT CITY HALL
SEEMED TO BRING OUT THE BEST,
.
IT WAS A FRIENDLY COMING
TOGETHER.
DEBORAH: AND THEN QUICKLY, A
COMING APART, AS SPLINTER GROUPS
HEEDED THE CALL TO SHUT THE CITY
DOWN AND WENT EVEN FURTHER,
THROWING OBJECTS AT POLICE
OUTSIDE CAMDEN YARDS, DESTROYING
PROPERTY OFF PRATT STREET, AND
LOOTING.
I AM DISAPPOINTED TO SEE THE
CITY AND VIOLENCE.
DEBORAH: WITH A FRAGILE HOLD ON
PEACE, FREDDIE GRAY WAS LAID TO
REST.
EULOGIZED BY CITY LEADERS AND A
CIVIL RIGHTS ICON.
HE LIES HERE WITH US TODAY.
THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING.
DEBORAH: BUT AS THE FUNERAL WAS
ENDING, A NIGHT OF VIOLENCE WAS
BEGINNING.
AND MONDAWMIN MALL WAS HIT
FIRST.
AN ANGER HAD BEEN UNLEASHED, AS
LANGSTON HUGHES WROTE A DREAM
DEFERRED.
MAYBE IT JUST SAGS, LIKE A HEAVY
LOAD HE WROTE.
OR, HE ASKED, DOES IT EXPLODE?
I UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE ARE
MAD, WE GOT TO HANDLE IT IN
ANOTHER WAY.
DEBORAH: STRANGELY, GANG MEMBERS
SEEMED LIKE THE VOICE OF REASON,
A STATE OF EMERGENCY WAS
DECLARED.
THIS IS ONE OF OUR DARKEST
DAYS AS A CITY.
I KNOW WE ARE BETTER THAN THIS.
WE KNOW THE WORLD IS WATCHING.
WE CAN'T ALLOW OUR CITY TO
DEVOLVE INTO CHAOS.
DEBORAH: THE MORNING LIGHT
SHOWED US IMAGES THAT SOME
COMPARED TO A WAR ZONE, AS
DREAMS WERE NOT JUST DEFERRED,
THEY WERE DESTROYED.
THESE ACTS OF VIOLENCE CANNOT
AND WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.
DEBORAH: A CURFEW WAS IMPOSED,
AS THE NATION WATCH.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: THEY ARE
NOT
PROTESTING OR MAKING A
STATEMENT.
THEY ARE STEALING.
WHEN THEY BUILD -- BURN A
BUILDING, THEY ARE MEETING
ARSON.
THEY ARE DESTROYING AND
UNDERMINI
NG BUSINESSES AND
OPPORTUNITIES WITHIN THEIR OWN
COMMUNITIES.
DEBORAH: LIKE A DAY AFTER A
STORM, THE CLEAN UP BEGAN WITH A
SINGLE BROOM.
RIDICULOUS.
STARTED OUT PEACEFUL AND ENDS UP
LIKE THIS.
I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD SEE IT
IN MY DOORSTEP.
DEBORAH: MAJOR URBAN ISSUES
UNEARTHED, POVERTY, JOBLESSNESS,
HOPELESSNESS.
ISSUES UNEARTHED BY A MAN WHO
JUST 19 DAYS AGO MAY HAVE BEEN
AN INVISIBLE MAN ON A WEST
BALTIMORE STREET.
I WAS CURIOUS WHAT WE WERE
TALKING ABOUT BEFORE FREDDIE
GRAY.
ON APRIL 11, THE DAY BEFORE
FREDDIE GRAY'S ENCOUNTER WITH
POLICE, THE LEAD LOCAL STORY HAD
TO DO WITH A VIGIL FOR AN ANNE
ARUNDEL COUNTY POLICE OFFICER
WHO WAS SHOT.