About a thousand people came out in Lower Manhattan last night to protest the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old Baltimore resident who died earlier this month after sustaining a severe spinal cord injury in police custody.Activists began showing up at Union Square Park just before 6 PM, so we sent photographer Pete Voelker to have a look at the scene. Unfortunately, he didn't last very long, getting arrested at around 7:15.
Advertisement
"I actually tried to get to the sidewalk to avoid being nabbed but was blocked by officers," Voelker said aferward in an email. "So I turned back, got distracted, took a photo of a girl getting arrested—she had just punched a cop. There was an anonymous guy in the background (who soon after got arrested)… [I] took a photo of that and some others, but then they grabbed me. I was punched and elbowed in the face and hit with a club, instantly dropped to the ground, and had four officers pushing on my arms with their knees."Voelker wasn't released until 4:30 AM, but was struck by the vibe in his holding cell, where protesters broke into song every time another of their own was brought in. He told us the atmosphere was joyful, even if the cops in the street demonstrated a new ferocity he hadn't recognized at police protests last fall.Fortunately, another activist recovered Voelker's camera. Here's what he saw before he was taken to jail.
See more photos by Pete Voelker on his website.