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Rival Gang Members In Baltimore Are Actually Uniting To Protest

by John Haltiwanger

The city of Baltimore is in a great deal of pain.

In the wake of the arrest and subsequent death of Freddie Gray, Baltimore has seen peaceful protests escalate into anarchical riots.

Throughout this trying ordeal, there have been a number of reports surrounding gangs and their purported intentions in relation to these developments.

On Saturday, rival gang members from the Bloods and Crips allegedly agreed upon a truce in honor of Freddie Gray, documented in a report from the Daily Beast.

These gang members joined together in protest of police brutality, marching in unison with activists from the Nation of Islam:

Bloods, Crips, and Nation of Islam coming together. Beautiful. #FreddieGray pic.twitter.com/WRmfBTZV8A — PantheR (@____PantheR) April 25, 2015
And the Bloods and Crips are walking side-by-side today at the protest. Baltimore. #FreddieGray — deray mckesson (@deray) April 25, 2015

On Monday, however, Baltimore officials claimed that gangs, including the Bloods and Crips, were banding together in order to violently target police:

NEW: Police claim "credible threat" that BGF, Bloods, Crips have teamed up to "take out law enforcement officers" pic.twitter.com/XAmXD3FJsl — Justin Fenton (@justin_fenton) April 27, 2015

But on Tuesday, members of the Bloods and Crips released a powerful video (below) refuting these claims. The video features Charles Shelley, a member of the Crips, and Jamal, a member of the Bloods, with Shelley stating:

We not out here for nobody to get hurt. You got a Crip here, you got a Blood here. All that about the police getting hurt by certain gangs, that's false... We're here to protect our communities and that's it.

Watch the full video below, in which the rival gang members declare they are "brothers."

Additionally, in a separate video (below), WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore interviews gang members from the Black Guerrilla Family, the Bloods and the Crips, and they all fervently contend they did not make a truce to attack and harm police officers.

The fact that rival gangs are willing to unite says a great deal about the current state of Baltimore and how bad relations between the public and police have gotten. Obviously, the Baltimore police department is in great need of reform.

With that said, let's hope the city finds peace sooner rather than later.

Citations: Bloods and Crips Team Up to Protest Baltimores Cops (The Daily Beast), Gangs call for calm in Baltimore (The Baltimore Sun)