The eyes of the nation have been focused on Baltimore as protests, riots and looting played out on TV screens across the world. For two former Arkansas journalists who are now working in Baltimore, the demonstrations protesting the death of Freddie Gray are something they’re experiencing firsthand.
Freddie Gray was a 25-year-old black man who was arrested April 12 by Baltimore Police Department officers and suffered a spinal cord injury while in police custody. He died April 19. His death has been ruled a homicide, and six officers who were suspended following his death are facing charges ranging from manslaughter to second-degree depraved-heart murder.
After Gray’s April 27 funeral, demonstrators in Baltimore protested against the treatment of blacks by police. The demonstrations were followed by riots, which led to the National Guard descending to maintain order and enforce a city curfew April 28.
Charley Crowson, who worked as a backpack journalist and weekend anchor for KTHV-TV, Channel 11 from 2007 to 2010, covered the events as they unfolded.
“It’s one of the most bizarre scenes you’ll ever see,” Crowson says, describing the streets of Baltimore on April 29.
Morgan Adsit worked as a weekend sports anchor at KLRT-TV, Channel 16 from 2008 to 2011 and also saw the events in Baltimore firsthand.
“It was very surreal to see Humvees driving down the streets like it should be going to Desert Storm,” says Adsit, a sports anchor and reporter for Baltimore’s Fox-affiliate, WBFF-TV, Channel 45.
Adsit says things were much calmer April 29 and that it was like a normal spring day. “People were trying to clean their community,” she says. “They brought their own plastic bags to help clean up.”
Crowson says the scene of the burning CVS pharmacy that had been broadcast nationwide has become a rallying point for demonstrators. He says community leaders, including elected and religious officials, tried to calm things down.
Crowson says he was on the ground during the peaceful protests April 25, which turned to riots as the sun went down.
Adsit was also one of the few people who saw the Baltimore Orioles play the Chicago White Sox in an empty Camden Yards ballpark April 29. She watched the game from the press box.
“It was very surreal to be there and see it,” Adsit says, adding that the games usually have 33,000 or more in attendance.
She says the only fans who were watching in person that day were viewing from behind a gate in left field.
“During the national anthem, the fans shout ‘O’ for Orioles,” Adsit says. “Today, they were very faint. They’re trying to do their best to support the team. Baltimore is a baseball town.”
She says the street the fans watched from is usually closed but that it was open April 29 for the game.
“It was easily the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen as far as games of any kind,” says Crowson, who watched the game on TV. “It had a very eerie and hollow feel the entire time.”
The two say there have been instances of hostility toward journalists.
“We had a photographer get punched,” Adsit says. “Some got pepper sprayed and maced indirectly.”
Crowson says he’s heard of some more hostile interactions.
“I’ve heard stories of reporters being shoved, as well as verbal altercations,” Crowson says. He says the only incident of significant harm he’s heard of was a bloodied photographer on social media whose camera was reportedly stolen.
Both Adsit and Crowson emphasized that a relatively small number of people, compared to the number of other protesters, were responsible for most of the property damage.
“They’re destroying the city,” Adsit says. “Not only are the people not allowed out, but restaurants and bars are losing so much business.”