Baltimore protests turn violent after death of arrested man

Demonstrators protest in the streets as they march for Freddie Gray to Baltimore's City Hall, Saturday, April 25, 2015. Gray died from spinal injuries about a week after he was arrested and transported in a police van.
Demonstrators protest in the streets as they march for Freddie Gray to Baltimore's City Hall, Saturday, April 25, 2015. Gray died from spinal injuries about a week after he was arrested and transported in a police van.

BALTIMORE — A protest over the death of Freddie Gray, who was critically injured in police custody, started peacefully with thousands marching through downtown streets before the demonstration turned violent and volatile.

The chaotic scene Saturday night prompted the first public remarks from Freddie Gray's twin sister, who pleaded for peace at a news conference alongside the mayor.

"My family wants to say, can you all please, please stop the violence?" Fredricka Gray said. "Freddie Gray would not want this."

Just before nightfall, groups of protesters marched from City Hall to the Camden Yards baseball stadium, where the Baltimore Orioles played the Boston Red Sox. Fans were told to briefly stay inside the stadium until the police were able to clear an intersection outside of the venue.

Meanwhile, a smaller "splinter group" looted a convenience store and threw tables and chairs through storefront windows, shattering the glass. One group smashed the window of a department store inside a downtown mall and, at one point, a protester tossed a flaming metal garbage can toward a line of police officers in riot gear as they tried to push back the crowd.

Earlier, a group of protesters smashed the windows of at least three police cars and got into fights with baseball fans outside a bar.

Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said roughly 1,200 officers were deployed downtown and across the city to try and keep the peace. At least five officers were injured and 12 people were arrested. Batts said he believes the "very violent agitators" are not from Baltimore.

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