Emergency appeal from the Baltimore People’s Power Assembly

Demand Justice for Freddie Grey! Indict, Convict & Jail Killer Police!

AMNESTY FOR ALL JAILED YOUTH

Approximately 350 people have been arrested in Baltimore stemming from the April 24 protests that spilled into the night both in downtown Baltimore and at the Western District Police Station. Police donned riot gear and charged into young protesters in both places. In the neighborhood where Freddie Grey was murdered, police chased youth, clubbed people and formed phalanxes that swept the streets.

We have yet to find out the extent of the charges that many of these youth are being held on. Legal support is being organized and youth are slowly being released. At this moment, many remain in jail.

Solidarity with arrested youth critical!

It is most important that we stand in solidarity with these young people and that we demand amnesty and their release from jail.

The anger, pent-up frustration and rage that many people across this country have witnessed on their television screens is based on decades of racist abuse and neglect in communities all across Baltimore.

It is about police terror. It is also about unemployment and low wages, decaying housing and lack of services. Just two weeks prior to Grey’s murder, the city announced water shutoffs to 25,000 households.

The Baltimore People’s Power Assembly, which has been organizing against police terror for many years, has heard first-hand accounts from youths as young as 12 years old who have been handcuffed and driven around in police cruisers, terrorized and then released. Women have spoken to us about sexual assaults by police. Beatings and shakedowns are common.

Freddie Grey is not the first victim of police murder in this mostly Black city. His name is added to a long list of victims: Tyrone West, Darin Hutchins, Anthony Anderson, George King, Maurice Johnson and many others.

We cannot allow the city, police or media to divide us. We cannot equate property damage with the loss of human life. Freddie Grey cannot be brought back to his family or friends; a window can be repaired.

‘Outside agitators’: a diversion

The Baltimore People’s Power Assembly, whose organizers have lived in this city for decades, welcome all those who want to come to Baltimore in solidarity with the people. We understand that police terror and structural racism is a national problem and that it is not confined just to our city.

The Baltimore Police Department and mayor have used the “outside agitator” card to distract attention from the real issue of indicting, convicting and jailing the six police officers who killed Freddie Grey. If the mayor is indeed worried about “outsiders,” then get the cops out of the community, the majority of whom do not live in the city and who constitute a virtual occupation army. We say, tell Gov. Hogan to withdraw the state police, whom he has deployed.

Please call the mayor, police commissioner and state’s attorney to demand:

• Justice for Freddie Grey — indict, convict and jail killer police.
• In this crucial hour, we demand full amnesty for all arrestees, their release from jail, and an end to police repression and arrests.

For those who would like to contribute to the struggle for justice, we have set up two Paypal accounts:

One is for general protest expenses, which include flyers, posters, banners, food, water and other supplies: tinyurl.com/BaltoProtestFund

And a special legal defense fund: tinyurl.com/BaltoLegalFund

2011 Charles St.
Baltimore, MD 21218
443-221-3775

Please note that the Baltimore Peoples Assembly is using the spelling “Grey” in respect of Freddie Carlos Grey, who spelled his name with an “e”, and the many friends and family in the community who have confirmed this.