Thousands Protest over US Custody Death of Freddie Gray

Gray died last Sunday after sustaining multiple injuries which included three fractures in his neck vertebrae, a smashed voicebox and the severing of 80 per cent of his spine from his neck.

Gray had been in police custody for a week, having been arrested in a high-crime neighbourhood after he made eye contact with police and fled. After he was caught he was found to be carrying a knife.

Melissa Ealey, Gray’s cousin, told Al Jazeera that no crime perpetrated could warrant such abuse.

“There is no reason the police had to conduct themselves in a manner to where…it cost him his life," Ealey said. "I can understand breaking the law is wrong but the way they apprehended him and the things they did were completely against protocol and just inhumane as a whole."

Signs in hand, with slogans such as "Jail Killer Police" and "Unite Here," demonstrators from different racial backgrounds flooded two city blocks and marched to city hall, where the crowd overtook a plaza.

March organiser and lawyer Malik Shabazz described violence against by American police officers as "a national epidemic against black men".

Al Jazeera's Shihab Rattansi, reporting from Baltimore, said the marchers had then headed towards Baltimore's Oriole Park Major League Baseball stadium at Camden Yards where Baltimore's Orioles were later set to take on the Boston Red Sox.

Rattansi said the protest outside the stadium ended relatively peacefully, although a few cars appeared to have been vandalised, as police warned protesters that they would face arrest if they didn't disperse.

"There was not very much in the way of heated scenes, about 20 minutes for the whole day but what we did see today was a few thousand people gather in city hall demanding answers over questions including why he was even arrested in the first place," Rattansi said.

The police had earlier kept a safe distance, as the protesters called for sweeping national policy changes on how cases of police brutality should be dealt with.

Their demands included the establishment of an independent civilian review board in every city to review the cases, immediate suspension without pay for police officers accused of violence and protection for whistleblowers so they could freely speak about police brutality without retaliation.