Some officers say police commanders set the tone for Monday by also taking a hands-off approach on Saturday.Ĭommanders counter that police did make about 13 arrests on that day, even while they were outnumbered and outflanked. And violence escalated on Saturday, April 25, when rioters broke windows, destroyed police cars and hurled large objects at officers outside Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Protesters had thrown bottles at officers outside the Western District police station on the day Gray died. 'Everybody that I've talked to said it was very clear we weren't to engage,' Alperstein said.īut Alperstein said police should have been better prepared for violence on Monday, April 27. Officers sustained injuries ranging 'from concussions to fractures to really bad head wounds, facial wounds, stitches, staples,' Alperstein said.Īlperstein said his clients understand the directive to not engage was a planned strategy.

More than 380 businesses reported damage, and 61 buildings were burned, according to city officials. Gray's death launched Baltimore into weeks of protests that culminated with a day of rioting across the city, including arson, looting and violent clashes between police and rock throwers. The Baltimore state's attorney's office charged six officers involved in the arrest or transport of Gray with a range of criminal charges including second-degree murder and reckless endangerment. He had suffered a spinal injury and died a week later. Police and prosecutors say officers denied Gray medical help, and he was found unresponsive by the time the van arrived at the Western District police station. Police found what they say was an illegal pocket knife and cuffed his hands and legs and put him in the back of a police transport van. Gray was arrested on April 12 in West Baltimore after officers on bicycles said he ran from them after making eye contact. 'At Mondawmin, they were getting pummeled there, and there were commanders behind them saying 'Don't engage,'' Baltimore attorney Warren S. Their objective was simple, according to Deputy Commissioner Dean Palmere: 'Protect assets, protect life.'Īn attorney for several officers who were injured during the riots and have filed workers' compensation claims said many of his clients contend that when commanders ordered officers not to engage rioters, they were putting all officers in danger.

'I can say unequivocally that the mayor never gave such an order or told the command staff to give such an order.'īatts and his top commanders said officers are confusing 'stand down' with 'hold the line' - a command they acknowledge was given repeatedly. 'The mayor never gave an order to police to stand down, and there have been multiple officers who have come forward and have said there was no such order given either by the mayor or by the command staff,' spokesman Kevin Harris said. Rawlings-Blake has denied that and said she would never allow people to loot, destroy or burn businesses.

Hold the line police