14 Rabbis Join Baltimore March for Freddie Gray

By JTA May 1, 2015

Fourteen rabbis in the Baltimore region will join a rally and march for “police reform and justice for Freddie Gray.”

The rally, organized by Baltimore United for Change, a coalition of grassroots organizations that focus on systemic inequality, was scheduled to begin Friday at 3 p.m. and was expected to draw hundreds of activists, including “dozens” from Jews United for Justice, a Washington, D.C.-based community organization, according to a news release issued by the organization.

Earlier in the day one Baltimore police officer was charged with murder, three with manslaughter and two with assault in the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African-American Baltimore resident who prosecutors say suffered a broken neck while shackled in a van with police who ignored his pleas for medical attention.

“Jews United for Justice and the Jewish community stand with our neighbors in Baltimore calling for justice for Freddie Gray,” Molly Amster, the Baltimore director of Jews United for Justice said in a statement on Friday. “We thank State’s Attorney Mosby for her swift and decisive action today in charging all six officers in the homicide of Freddie Gray … The city of Baltimore must also do its part to address longstanding and systematic discrimination against communities of color and make significant investments in housing and job training in West Baltimore.”

The rabbis who are attending the march come from synagogues and other Jewish organizations in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. metro areas.

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