Saturday night, huge crowds of protesters converged on the streets of Baltimore to protest the death of Freddie Gray, a black male who sustained life ending injuries during an arrest made by the Baltimore City Police Department on April 12th. Like many similar protests that have taken place in recent months, the protest began as a peaceful assembly before pockets of violence began breaking out.

During one particular standoff, in which protesters were reportedly throwing rocks at the riot gear clad officers, the police announced the assembly was no longer peaceful and ordered the protesters to leave the area. According to the Baltimore Sun, the police made an announcement that went “something like, ‘This is no longer a legal assembly. This is no longer a peaceful protest,'” just before they backed off, creating a wider distance between the officers and the protesters.[Read More…]