Thanks for joining me. Im Fredricka Whitfield live in baltimore. People are starting ging to gather here near city fall. An interfaith rally is about to get under way outside the plaza here. Hours after the mayor lifts the citywide curfew and the government announces National Guard troops are starting to draw down. Nick valencia and athena jones are here in baltimore with me. Nick the governor says he is drawing down the National Guard. Are you seeing any signs of a pullback from the National Guard . Reporter not where we are. We still see that National Guard presence. We were told earlier about two hours ago that withdrawal or that winddown will continue to happen. It might not happen as fast as some people in this community would like it to. Many here expected to be a part of this 3 00 p. M. Faithbased coalition. To continue the conversation surrounding the death of freddie gray. A couple of people in attendance here Law Enforcement executives. You have a unique perspective. So much
but actor sonia sohn and benya of the wire have already been speaking out and join us. thank you so much for joining us. what can you do? well, i just spent the last two, three days down in baltimore and it s been an intense scene. i think it s important not to depict the city as a tragic scene, though. there s a lot of beautiful things that the wire showed that was native to baltimore. there s a spirit there, a unique culture there. but the article in variety was true, that there s a tragedy there that is systemic, and there s a failure to address it. i think there s a lot of political will to keep things exactly the same way. there s a lot of economic will to keep things exactly the same way. and it s not unique to baltimore. this is true in cities all around the world. people with power and people without. well, what do you think of
up. and when i say, the system, i mean on a state level, i mean on a national level. i don t really think it s set up to benefit the people in a way that maximizes what we can do as a people. i m sure you ve been to baltimore. these are row homes, blocks of abandoned row homes for no reason, that have been there for decades. it s hard the to grow happy and healthy in a situation like that. people aren t heating or eating well, and this is the life they re expecting. like i said, i was just down there and interviewing people, left and right, who grew up, who grow up with police violence. and this is normal to them. they don t expect anything else. they just don t want to be killed for it. that s it. they expect to be beaten by the police. that s the normal relationship. and we know this, but it hasn t changed. sonia, your views? yeah, i mean, i agree with everything that he says, but having lived in baltimore and worked in baltimore, both with the wire and with the nonprofit they