Violence in Baltimore after the death of a black arrested

Protesters attacked saturday at police cars and shops in central Baltimore (Eastern US) on the margins of the largest gathering organized since the death of a young black wounded during his arrest . More than 1,000 people gathered peacefully for 90 minutes outside the town hall of Baltimore, to claim that justice be done for Freddie Gray, 25, died from a fracture of the cervical vertebrae, a week after being arrested april 12 in a neighborhood of this city of 620,000 inhabitants. 

The atmosphere suddenly deteriorated when several dozens of protesters took the direction of Camden Yards baseball stadium, an hour before the start of a match Baltimore Orioles against Boston Red Sox. Images filmed by television channels from helicopters showed a crowd throwing safety cones, soda bottles and garbage cans at police officers before breaking shop windows and loot. "The protesters are now breaking windows and throwing things" confirmed Baltimore Police twitter. "We ask everyone to keep calm". Protesters were seen looting a supermarket, breaking windows and block intersections. A stone through the window of the car with a driver, reported the WBAL. An AFP photographer saw protesters breaking windows of five police cars before riot police intervened.

Twelve people're arrested, told the police commissioner Anthony Batts to reporters.
Another police spokesman said that the violence was the fact of "isolated pockets" of individuals.

Fredericka Gray, twin sister of Freddie Gray, launched an appeal for calm. "My family wants to tell you : please, please, stop violence Freddie wouldn't want that". At his side, the mayor of Baltimore, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, said she was "profoundly disappointed" by the violence, which she accused "a small group of agitators".

During the gathering, speakers called on President Barack Obama to launch a national survey of police brutality, after a series of deadly clashes between police and white men and young black boys. "It has to stop. We really need it to stop because it could have been any of us", he told to the crowd a relative of the family of Freddie Gray.

Several investigations have been launched to clarify the circumstances of woundes of Freddie Gray, including a federal investigation by the Department of Justice. 

Baltimore Police agreed friday that the young man should have received medical assistance immediately after his arrest. 

At his death, 80% of his spine was severed at the height of the cervical, according to lawyers for the family.

A video of the arrest showed police pinning Freddie Gray to the ground screaming in pain, before boarding in the van.  

The police leaders also recognized that the safety belt of the young man didn't block in the van that left three unexplained stops on the way to the police station.

Funeral should take place on monday.

Six police officers were suspended pending the police furnish may 1st, the results of his investigation to the prosecutor of Maryland, who may decide to prosecute.

This death is the latest in a series of blunders that have revived racial tensions in recent months in the United States and the controversy over police brutality, after the deaths of unarmed black men.

Source : TV5 Monde