Protests in Baltimore against the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray, who died from spinal cord injuries while in police custody, intensified over the weekend, and harrowing images are coming through. A video posted last night by The Baltimore Sun shows police surrounding a photojournalist and a protestor on the ground while another man shouts, "He's a photographer! He's press!"
"THEY JUST TOOK ME DOWN."
According to the Sun, the photographer on the ground was a Baltimore City Paper photojournalist named J.M. Giordano, and the video was filmed by City Paper Managing Editor Baynard Woods. Giordano told the Sun that he was hit by multiple police shields while being detained, and that he was beaten with his "face pretty much smushed down on the ground." He told the Sun, "They just took me down." Police said they made 34 arrests related to protests over the weekend.
This isn't the first time phone videos have played a part in the unfolding story of what happened to Freddie Gray. Another video, also obtained by the Sun, shows Gray being dragged into the back of a police van while a woman shouts that the man's legs appear to be broken. Gray is audibly groaning in the video.
Much of the timeline of Gray's death is still obscured, and video of the incident could prove to be crucial evidence. Four security cameras were set up at an intersection where police pulled Gray out of the van, but Baltimore police, according to the Sun, have released few recordings so far that show interactions with Gray.