WATCH: Alicia Garza, Ben Jealous Talk Freddie Gray and Police Militarization

Charges Dropped Against All Officers In Freddie Gray Case

The lack of charges against the officers implicated in Freddie Gray"s death weighed heavily on the minds of Black Lives Matter co-founderAlicia Garza and others participating in a Rock the Vote panel today (July 27) in Philadelphia.

"Police are allowed to be judge, jury and executioner," Garza said during panel, which was focused on the militarization of police. "Marilyn Mosby came out today and said that"s what happened with the aquittal of all officers in the murder of Freddie Gray. We have really bad a*s policy and organizingthat"s being moved, which tells me that there"s something so deeply corrupt about the system that we"re trying to temper with, that we might want to start over again."

JournalistErica Williams(Time, Upworthy)moderated the panel, which also featured journalist Chris Hedges (Truth Dig), Justice League NYC co-founder Carmen Perez,former NAACP presidentBen Jealousandactor Kendrick Sampson ("How to Get Away with Murder"). Panelists also addressed the profit-driven underpinnings of agresssive policing, with Hedges criticizing the "forces of capitalism and neoliberalism"s" role in fostering the demonizedunderground economy.

Perez also shared personal experiences with police: "I think about the way in which they dealt with my family, when we were having weddings and maybe there was a fight or a gun brandished," said Perez. "There would be tanks, [police] would come in and hold our family at gunpoint."

The panel, like a Melissa Harris-Perry-moderated one we covered yesterday,was part of Rock the Vote"s Truth to Power event series and pop-up art exhibit. Presented parallel to the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Philadelphia this week, the series concludestoday.

Check out our livestream of Garza and Perez"s opening remarks below.

Source: http://www.colorlines.com/articles/watch-alicia-garza-ben-jealous-talk-freddie-gray-and-police-militarization

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Mourners Remember Freddie Gray After Night of Massive Protest

Protests in Baltimore over the death of a black man who died a week after his arrest gave way to a Sunday morning church service and a wake to remember the 25-year-old.

Mourners filed quietly in and out of Vaughn Greene East Funeral Home to honor Freddie Gray, who died April 19 after an April 12 arrest by Baltimore police left him with an allegedly severed spine.

Gray, in an open casket, was dressed in a white shirt, black pants, white sneakers and a white Los Angeles Dodgers baseball cap, according to The Associated Press. Inside the coffin was a pillow embossed with Gray's picture and the quotation "Peace, Y'all."

Earlier, church-goers were encouraged to worship with the Gray family at Empowerment Temple AME Church, where Pastor Jamal Bryant delivered the message "Somebody's Gonna Have To Pay," according to the church's Facebook page. Attendees were asked to wear gray in memory of the young man.

Empowerment Temple will pay for Gray's funeral, scheduled for 11 a.m. ET Monday.

Meanwhile, Baltimore police said extra officers were patrolling the streets after "a small contingent" of the at least 1,000 people who demonstrated Saturday became violent. The protesters were "mostly peaceful," police said in a statement, but some vandalized stores and police vehicles, leading to 34 arrests.

While Saturday's protest was the largest since Gray's death, residents have been taking to the streets to demands answers since he died.

Authorities haven't disclosed what caused Gray's injuries. A cellphone camera captured him being pinned to the ground and then loaded into a police van. Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said Friday that Gray wasn't seat-belted while he was being transported in the van and that officers should have gotten him medical care immediately following his detainment.

IN-DEPTHSOCIAL

Elisha Fieldstadt

First published April 26 2015, 1:38 PM

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mourners-remember-freddie-gray-after-night-massive-protest-n348651

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