Freddie Gray's family calls for calm in Baltimore: 'Don't tear up the whole city just for him'

Gloria Darden, Freddie Gray&#039;s mother, calls for peace in Baltimore

(Image credit: AP/YouTube)

published 28 April 2015

The family of 25-year-old Freddie Gray held a press conference late Monday, after Gray's funeral, urging the people in Baltimore protesting the unexplained death of the young black man in police custody to stand down. "I want y'all to get justice for my son, but don't do it like this here," said Gray's mother, Gloria Darden. "Don't tear up the whole city just for him. It's wrong."

Gray's twin sister, Fredericka Gray, also said "the violence is wrong," adding that her brother wasn't violent or the type of person who breaks into stores. "I don't think that's for Freddie," she said. "I don't like it at all."

National Guard troops started taking positions on the streets of Baltimore late Monday, as rioting and looting spread from the west side of the city to the east and closer to downtown. By Tuesday morning, fires were still smoldering from the handful of buildings and cars set ablaze. Watch Gray's family call for peace, and city officials talk law and order in the Associated Press video montage below. —Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.