By Megan Sayles
AFRO Staff Writer
msayles@afro.com
It’s been 10 years since 25-year-old Freddie Gray was arrested on April 12 by Baltimore police and suffered a fatal spinal cord injury while in custody. His April 19, 2015 death cast a national spotlight on Baltimore, sparking citywide protests. On the day of his funeral, April 27, riots broke out. The movement fueled a growing call for police accountability.
Today, faith and community leaders are still grappling with the tragedy and what’s changed— and what hasn’t— in Baltimore since Gray’s life ended shortly after coming into contact with Baltimore police officers.
Pastor Harold Carter Jr., of New Shiloh Baptist Church, recalled hearing about the “rough ride” Gray was subjected to. Though Gray was handcuffed and shackled, the police officers who arrested him did not secure him with a seatbelt, a violation of the Baltimore Police Department’s (BPD) policy.
Carter remembers hearing that some BPD members had a pattern of engaging in this behavior.
“There was a certain group of police officers who, when they picked up people, put them in the back of the paddy wagon. Even though they were restrained, they were not seat-belted,” said Carter. “They were driven through the city, and there were certain curves where they got slammed around.”
Carter recalls wanting more information about the reason for Gray’s arrest.
On the morning of April 12, 2015, Gray was standing on a street corner in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood when he made eye contact with Lieutenant Brian Rice, a police officer on bike patrol for BPD. Gray subsequently fled, and Rice chased after him.
Officers Garrett Miller and Edward Nero, who were also on bike patrol, joined Rice in his pursuit. Gray surrendered to Miller after the officer threatened to use his taser. While apprehending Gray, the officers discovered what they believed to be an illegal switchblade knife.
A recording exists of Gray being arrested. As he is put into the police van he screams in pain. He was then transported in a police van for nearly 40 minutes—shackled and unbelted. By the time he arrived at the police station, he had sustained a severe spinal cord injury during the ride, likely from hitting his head on the interior of the van. Reports from the Department of Justice say authorities did not believe he was actually injured, but instead of being booked, Gray was taken to a hospital. There, the 25-year-old fell into a coma and later died on April 19, 2015 as a result of his injuries.
Though Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby charged all of the officers involved in Gray’s arrest and death with crimes ranging from manslaughter, assault, misconduct in office and false imprisonment, none were ultimately convicted. None of the officers were fired from their posts either.
“It was alarming because it seemed as though it did not have to be that way. There were rumblings as to whether or not police were getting away with something or whether they were trying to cover up what had actually happened,” said Carter. “There was also a certain sense of helplessness because you didn’t know where to go to get the ‘right’ truth.”
Billy Murphy, the attorney for Gray’s family, reached out to Carter to ask him to hold his funeral service at New Shiloh Baptist Church. The church is located in the Mondawmin neighborhood, just a short distance from where Gray grew up in Sandtown-Winchester.
Gray’s service took place on April 27, 2015. Carter said mourners spilled outside of the church’s doors. Rev. Dr. Jamal Bryant of Empowerment Temple AME Church delivered Gray’s eulogy, and notable figures, like Rep. Elijah Cummins and Rev. Jesse Jackson, also gave remarks.
“The funeral service had a great sense of coming together. The spirit was conducive to celebrating Freddie Gray’s life in spite of the tragedy,” said Carter. “Those who spoke on the pulpit had nothing but words of healing and comfort in spite of these occurrences. There was also the sense that his death needed to continue being investigated.”
In the weeks following Gray’s arrest and subsequent death, residents took to the streets of West Baltimore to rally against police brutality and misconduct. The unrest escalated on the day of Gray’s funeral, leading to looting, arson and the destruction of vehicles and businesses.
Carter remembered watching the uprisings play out on television. At one point, he saw a group of police mobilizing just blocks away from his church. He decided that he could no longer remain at home as violence headed toward the place of worship.
That night, Carter and a number of other pastors held a press conference at the New Shiloh Baptist Church to call for peace. The church emerged as a gathering place for conversations about police reform and community healing, including what would become the city’s consent decree.
“The church became a hub, not just for the funeral, but for further meetings where even the federal government was concerned,” said Carter. “Mayor Stephaphnie Rawlings-Blake and the police commissioner had meetings there.”
Leading up to Gray’s arrest and death, Dayvon Love, director of public policy for Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle (LBS), had been lobbying in Annapolis for amendments to the Maryland Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights. The changes would have expanded community oversight of law enforcement and capacity for independent investigations into misconduct.
He received a message from a family member of Tyrone West, a Baltimore man who died in police custody in 2013, alerting him to a photo of Gray in the hospital. Given the national attention around police brutality at the time, Love expected a major public reaction.
“His death and the way that law enforcement was able to get away with his death amplified anger that resulted in a lot of what we saw during the unrest,” said Love.
LBS helped to spearhead demonstrations and also met with the Department of Justice to discuss police reform. Love acknowledged that the public’s response to Gray’s death drew controversy.
“People had opinions about what people did and the ‘correct’ way to respond,” said Love. “My perspective is that given the unethical nature of society’s structure and the conditions it puts on our community, I don’t think anyone had any moral grounding to chastise or moralize the range of reactions that people had during the uprisings.”
He recalled the riots that took place after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. The unrest put pressure on the government and private institutions to address systemic injustices.
“It’s often on the backs of people who engage in the kind of mass mobilizations we saw during the uprisings that creates space politically to address issues that otherwise wouldn’t even be on the table,” said Love.
Since Gray’s death, Love said progress in Baltimore has varied. One positive impact has been that there are more platforms for people to share Black radical tradition, a legacy of resistance rooted in the fight against racial, economic and colonial oppression.
There was also the passing of the Maryland Police Accountability Act of 2021, also known as Anton’s Law, which allows police misconduct records to be legally disclosable to the public. Love said one of the biggest milestones since Gray’s death has been the reduction of homicides in Baltimore, which experienced a 23 percent decline between 2023 and 2024 on top of a 20 percent drop the year prior.
Still, there’s progress to be made.
“The ongoing challenge that we have is there’s still a prevailing White supremacist political and economic status quo that continues to want to maintain the system as it exists,” said Love. “There’s an ongoing fight to topple that system and to pursue Black liberation.”
