WATCH: Protesters marched in New York City to call for justice in the death of Freddie Gray. Protesters scuffled with police as they walked down a street near Union Square, blocking traffic.
Thousands of people hit the streets in Baltimore and several other cities from Boston and New York to Indianapolis and Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to protest the death of a black man who died of spinal injuries after his arrest by Baltimore police and to demand reforms to police procedures.
While protests of the death of Freddie Gray were mostly peaceful, there were some arrests, including 16 in Baltimore and more than a dozen at a rally in Manhattan’s Union Square. Gray, of Baltimore, was critically injured in police custody.
The protesters chanted “no justice, no peace” and “hands up, don’t shoot” Wednesday night as dozens of New York police officers watched.
A police helicopter hovered overhead and a police loudspeaker warned the protesters that they would be arrested if they marched in the street.
One of the protesters said, “The police have become out of control.”
VIDEO GALLERY:
A group of protesters stretching more than a block has left Penn Station in Baltimore for a march to City Hall to protest Freddie Gray’s death after being hurt while in police custody.
People are chanting, “Tell the truth. Stop the lies. Freddie Gray didn’t have to die.”
Jacob Kinder, a student at Goucher University in nearby Towson, Maryland, said Gray’s death and the subsequent protests and riots have been a big topic all week on campus.
“I think there’s a pretty big fault line between students who think that the protests are justified and the riots are justified and people who don’t see race as a problem,” Kinder said.
Kinder is white, as were many in the group just before 6 p.m. The marchers included a large number of college students.
In Boston, people gathered Wednesday evening in a park behind police headquarters in Roxbury and continued with a peaceful march through the neighborhood. Police accompanied the marchers and blocked streets for them.
Marchers chanted “no justice, no peace, no racist police” and some carried signs, including “Boston Stands With Baltimore.”
Wayne Dozier, grandfather of D.J. Henry, a black college football player from Massachusetts who was shot by police in the suburbs New York City four years ago, attended the rally and said “it hurts” to lose a loved one to police action. He said society needs to change.
In downtown Indianapolis, more than two dozen protesters marched around Monument Circle chanting “no racist police” and carrying signs with slogans that included “I’m not scared of the apocalypse. I’m scared of a copalypse.”
Baltimore on edge ahead of 2nd night under curfew
While protests of the death of Freddie Gray were mostly peaceful, there were some arrests, including 16 in Baltimore and more than a dozen at a rally in Manhattan’s Union Square. Gray, of Baltimore, was critically injured in police custody.
After meeting with faith leaders and a lawyer for the Gray family, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said officials were working hard to make the investigation into Gray’s death transparent and keep the community informed.
Police have said that they will turn over findings from their investigation to the state’s attorney on Friday
Still, anger and anxiety hung over Baltimore.
Hundreds of protesters, many of them students wearing backpacks, marched through downtown, calling for swift justice in the case of Freddie Gray.
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Authorities carefully monitored the rally after teenagers started the violence Monday afternoon, throwing bricks and bottles at officers who had gathered near a major bus transfer point. The situation escalated from there, overwhelming police as protesters set fire to cars and buildings and raided stores.
Schools closed Tuesday because of the mayhem, but reopened Wednesday, after the city’s first night of a curfew went off without the widespread violence many had feared.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake talked to fourth- and eighth-graders at New Song Center in West Baltimore, not far from where Gray was arrested. She said she was impressed by the children’s perspective.
“They understand very clearly the difference between demonstrators that have a righteous purpose and those who are preying on this opportunity for their own benefit,” she said.
About 3,000 police and National Guardsmen descended on the city to help keep order, and life wasn’t likely to get completely back to normal anytime soon: The curfew was set to go back into effect at 10 p.m.
READ MORE: Why some Baltimore leaders say ‘thug’ is the wrong word to use
And in what was one of the weirdest spectacles in major-league history, Wednesday afternoon’s Baltimore Orioles game at Camden Yards was closed to the public for safety reasons. Press box seats were full, but the grandstands were empty.
Earlier in the day, protesters outside the office of Baltimore’s top prosecutor said they supported State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, who took office in January and pledged during her campaign to address aggressive police practices.
Mosby’s office is expected on Friday to get investigative findings from police on Gray’s death. She will then face a decision on whether and how to pursue charges against the six police officers who arrested Gray.
READ MORE: Baltimore streets once rocked by riots quiet after curfew
The curfew got off to a not-so-promising start Thursday night when about 200 protesters ignored warnings from police and pleas from pastors and other community activists to disperse. Some threw water bottles or lay down on the ground.
A line of officers behind riot shields hurled tear gas canisters and fired pepper balls at the crowd, which dispersed in a matter of minutes.
Police said 35 people were arrested after the curfew went into effect.
Attorney general decries ‘senseless’ violence
Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Wednesday called the rioting in Baltimore “senseless acts of violence” that were counterproductive to improving relationships between the police and community.
In her first public remarks on the unrest since being sworn in two days ago, Lynch said the city could in some ways be seen as a symbol of the national debate on race relations and law enforcement.
“But,” she added, “I’d ask that we remember that Baltimore is more than just a symbol. Baltimore is a city. It is a great city. It is a beautiful city.”
She said it was a city that police were trying to protect and peaceful protesters were trying to improve, all while “struggling to balance great expectations and need with limited resources.”
Lynch, the former federal prosecutor for parts of New York City, was sworn in Monday to replace Eric Holder, becoming the first African-American woman to serve as the nation’s top law enforcement official.
She spoke about the situation in Baltimore at the start of a cybersecurity summit Wednesday at the Justice Department.
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