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Economic divide in U.S. needs to be closed: Baltimore protesters

Xinhua, May 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

A crowd of protesters rallied outside the City Hall in Baltimore on Thursday over the death of a black man in police custody, demanding "justice" for African Americans.

Holding signs which read "Black lives matter!", "Justice for Freddie Grey!", demonstrators stood in the rainy weather in front of the City Hall, where National Guards and police officers were deployed.

"The problem of this country is economics," Danny Washington, a Baltimore African American resident, told Xinhua.

"If we can close the economic divide in this country, I think things will be a lot better," he said.

"Every time when it comes to war, they can find money from anywhere, but when it comes to education and infrastructure, they can never find the money," he said, noting that the United States does not need overseas military bases and should solve other important issues.

Sirpatrick Iwu, another African American protester, echoed Washington, saying "the system needs to be reevaluated."

"We are really getting upset about the city being burned down. It is totally wrong, but at the end of the day, these businesses are with insurance, I can't even get my apartment home insurance," said the protester.

Freddie Gray, 25, died after suffering a spine injury in police custody on April 19, triggering week-long protests which eventually turned into chaotic lootings, arsons and violent confrontations with the police in Baltimore.

As a result, the city declared a one-week curfew from 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. since Tuesday. Endi