Protests in Baltimore over the death of a black man who died a week after his arrest gave way to a Sunday morning church service and a wake to remember the 25-year-old.
Mourners filed quietly in and out of Vaughn Greene East Funeral Home to honor Freddie Gray, who died April 19 after an April 12 arrest by Baltimore police left him with an allegedly severed spine.
Gray, in an open casket, was dressed in a white shirt, black pants, white sneakers and a white Los Angeles Dodgers baseball cap, according to The Associated Press. Inside the coffin was a pillow embossed with Gray’s picture and the quotation “Peace, Y’all.”
Earlier, church-goers were encouraged to worship with the Gray family at Empowerment Temple AME Church, where Pastor Jamal Bryant delivered the message “Somebody’s Gonna Have To Pay,” according to the church’s Facebook page. Attendees were asked to wear gray in memory of the young man.
Empowerment Temple will pay for Gray’s funeral, scheduled for 11 a.m. ET Monday.
Meanwhile, Baltimore police said extra officers were patrolling the streets after “a small contingent” of the at least 1,000 people who demonstrated Saturday became violent. The protesters were “mostly peaceful,” police said in a statement, but some vandalized stores and police vehicles, leading to 34 arrests.
While Saturday’s protest was the largest since Gray’s death, residents have been taking to the streets to demands answers since he died.
Authorities haven’t disclosed what caused Gray’s injuries. A cellphone camera captured him being pinned to the ground and then loaded into a police van. Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said Friday that Gray wasn’t seat-belted while he was being transported in the van and that officers should have gotten him medical care immediately following his detainment.
This story originally appeared on NBC News
Elisha Fieldstadt