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Peaceful rally in Baltimore after police officers charged

Xinhua, May 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

Thousands of people in Baltimore, the largest city in U.S. State of Maryland, on Saturday gathered at a rally and marched through streets to celebrate a decision by the city's top prosecutor to charge six officers in connection with the death of Freddie Gray, the young African-American man who died in police custody from a spinal injury.

The rally began at 2 p.m. in the West Baltimore neighborhood where Gray lived and was making its way to City Hall.

On Friday, Marilyn Mosby, the state's attorney for Baltimore, laid out the charges against the officers, including second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. Four of them were charged with felonies and two with misdemeanors.

On April 19, Gray died of a spinal injury believed to have been sustained during or after his arrest the previous week.

Mosby's announcement on Friday triggered celebrations before the curfew at 10 p.m. in the evening. Hundreds of people marched to the city jail of Baltimore to demand release of people arrested during this week's riots, which resulted in over 200 arrests of protesters and injuries of at least 20 police officers.

The peaceful beginning of the protests against overuse of police force over Gray's death 10 days ago ended with riots from last weekend to early this week that prompted the governor to call in the National Guard and to impose a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew for one week. Endite