It was a depressing yet eye-opening sight to see the events that took place in Baltimore, Maryland last night due to the death of Freddie Gray, but it was even more of a shock to view some of the people who came together for the ordeal. Baltimore gang members from the Crips, Bloods and Black Guerrilla Family spoke with WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore last night and revealed that they came together for no reason other than to prevent the riots. It had been reported that the gangs were teaming up to harm the officers defending the city, but the members who attended a meeting last night with church leaders are saying otherwise.
"We just want to tell the people of Baltimore City that the image that they are trying to portray of the gangs in Baltimore [of] the BGF, the Bloods [and] the Crips, we did not make that truce to harm cops," says the frontman clad in all red. "We did not come together against the cops -- we're not about to allow y'all to paint this picture of us. We want justice for Freddie Gray." When asked what group they were from, the men claimed they are not gangs but "Black men united."
The groups also urged people outside of the Baltimore area to "stop believing everything you hear in the media. They didn't tell y'all [that] when we walked past the eateries downtown that people threw beers at us and called us names." One of the guys claimed that the older gang members actually uphold the community by helping kids get to school on time and providing jobs for adults, but are constantly belittled because they are "Black and have flags on." Watch the rest of the news segment above to hear more of their "very different perspective."
Source: WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore
