The family of slain Baltimore resident, Freddie Gray, are publicly denouncing the riots and looting that broke out last night just hours after their loved one’s funeral.
The Daily Mail is reporting on the family’s reaction to the state of emergency called in Baltimore last night as mobs of angry black youth looted stores and torched buildings and cars.
Rioters were protesting the death of Gray, 25, who passed away on April 19, one week after being arrested on a weapons charge and sustaining a severe spinal cord injury while in police custody.
“This is not justice,” said Carron Morgan, the cousin of Freddie Gray, to the Baltimore Sun. “This is just people finding a way to steal stuff. We didn’t even want people to protest today. It was a time to grieve for Freddie and to celebrate his life.”
Morgan said the Gray family would make no appearance on the streets of Baltimore except to help clean up after the mess.
Freddie’s twin sister, Fredericka, said she doesn’t believe the riots are for her brother at all. “I don’t think it’s for Freddie,” she said. “Freddie Gray wasn’t the type of person to break into stores and stuff.”
Mary Koch, one of the family’s attorneys, said it was “terrible” that the riots were overshadowing Freddie’s tragic death.
Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori, Archbishop called for calm and peace in the city to allow mourners to come to grips with the death of their loved one.
“Our hearts cannot help but go out to the loved ones of Freddie Gray, whose pain and anguish we will share as they say their final farewells to a son, brother, nephew and cousin. Freddie was not merely a symbol, but a real person whose life was tragically cut short. Sadly, it is a pain that far too many other Baltimore families have had to endure and will have to endure, so long as senseless violence and hatred continue.
“ . . . Freddie’s death symbolizes the rawest of open wounds and the only salve that will heal them is that of truth: truth about what happened to Freddie, truth about the sin of racism that is still present in our community, and truth about our collective responsibility to deal with those issues that undermine the human dignity of every citizen.”
He went on to ask the faithful of the Archdiocese to join him in prayer for the Gray family and all families who have been devastated by “the untimely death of a child of God.”
“Let us pray together for the people of our community, for those in law enforcement who approach their job with dignity and honesty and goodness, and for those investigating Freddie’s death, that their investigations will be swift, thorough, open, and honest, and that it will help our community to find ways to address systemic issues.”
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