Thousands Descend on Baltimore for 'Victory Rally'

Chants of "no justice, no peace, no racist police" echoed through the streets of Baltimore today during a march that organizers billed as a "victory rally" a day after a prosecutor charged six officers involved in the death of Freddie Gray. The planned march was to be a mass protest of Gray's treatment by police, but after prosecutor Marilyn Mosby's announcement, the tone shifted. Black Lawyers for Justice was expecting at least 10,000 people to show up downtown. “Our rally will proceed as a victory rally,” says the group's president, Malik Shabazz. “It will be a rally for justice and against police brutality.”

Groups gathered all around Baltimore and made their way through the streets to join the thousands at the main rally at City Hall. They carried homemade signs, calling for peace, as well as printed ones asking for justice. Others wore T-shirts that read, "Black Lives Matter." Chrystal Miller, 47, and Linda Moore, 63, were among them, and Moore brought a sign that said "The Dream Still Lives" in reference to Martin Luther King. Miller, who was pushing her 1-year-old son in a stroller, said she hoped the march would be peaceful. And Moore said she believed it would be because of the charges. (More Baltimore stories.)