City braces for more demonstrations as Donta Allen dismisses reports he told police Freddie Gray caused his own injuries

A man identifying himself as a key witness to Freddie Gray’s death in custody has come forward to reject previous reports suggesting he told investigators the 25-year-old caused his own fatal injuries inside a police van.



Donta Allen, interviewed by two TV channels on Thursday, said he was the second prisoner authorities had said was inside the vehicle with Gray on 12 April. According to a police timeline, the second prisoner was placed in the vehicle around 20 minutes after Gray was arrested at 1700 Presbury Street, in west Baltimore.

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The city remains on edge after a small group of protesters attempted to challenge the 10pm curfew on Thursday.

Investigators have said Gray and the other prisoner were separated by a wall and never saw each other. But the testimony of the second prisoner has become crucial in piecing together the circumstances of Gray’s death. Baltimore city officials have maintained it is likely Gray sustained his injuries inside the van.

On Thursday, a leaked police document, reported by the Washington Post, stated that the second prisoner believed Gray “was intentionally trying to injure himself” by “banging against the walls”. But Allen, interviewed by CBS Baltimore, denied saying this.

“And they’re trying to make it seem like I told them that, I made it like Freddie Gray did that to himself,” Allen said. “Why the fuck would he do that to himself ?”

In another interview with WBAL TV, Allan said that when he was placed in the van he didn’t hear anything and described the journey to the Western District police station as a smooth ride. “All I heard was a little banging for about four seconds,” Allen said.

Oliver Laughland (@oliverlaughland) Congressman Cummings leading those with linked arms in song #baltimore https://t.co/wyO3H3zayx

Asked again if he had heard Gray banging his head against the van, Allen responded ambiguously: “I told homicide that. I don’t work for the police. I did not tell the police nothing.”

The comments came as local media were reportedly briefed on the findings of a police investigation into Gray’s death, which concluded that his fatal injury was sustained after he slammed his head against a bolt in the back of the van. Police have conceded Gray was not wearing a seatbelt throughout the journey, leading to speculation he was subjected to a “rough ride” – where a prisoner is thrown violently as a vehicle is driven erratically.

On Thursday, police handed their findings to the state attorney for Baltimore, who will decide whether to charge any of the six officers involved in Gray’s arrest. Police said they had uncovered a fourth stop on the van’s journey to the station, raising further questions.

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In Baltimore on Thursday night, a crowd of around 200 people, including protesters, journalists and legal observers, gathered at the intersection of Pennsylvania and W North Avenues, with the demonstrators carrying signs and chanting slogans.

Their numbers dwindled as 10pm neared, until they were outnumbered by journalists, but they were nonetheless faced with a line of officers dressed in riot gear.

In an attempt to ward off a clash, several volunteers from the nearby Simmons Memorial Baptist ministry formed a line near the burned-out CVS grocery shop – which had been looted and set alight on Monday night – to nudge protesters home.

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Sheirmiar White, a young Simmons volunteer, was holding the line with several members of his church, who wore white T-shirts with #DoBetter printed on the front. “We’re out here as a community that has come together to make sure everybody gets home safe tonight,” White said, conceding that he didn’t mind the enforced curfew because it was “putting the people first”.

Congressman Elijah Cummings, who has been a fixture at the city’s protests since the curfew came into force on Tuesday night, was again urging the gathered few to go home.

Police helicopters circled overhead warning protesters to disperse. But over a megaphone, the Democratic representative led the group in prayer before guiding the line down Pennsylvania Avenue to the tune of This Little Light of Mine. The song did little to drown out the voice of one angry protester who was arrested by police after the curfew deadline.

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Cummings asked God to bless Baltimore’s state’s attorney, Marilyn Mosby, and spoke of the difficult work ahead of her. Amid the media circus the dead body of a man was retrieved from a truck parked at the scene, though the incident appears to have been unrelated to the protests.

The final group of protesters dispersed after police brought out two German shepherd dogs. “It’s like the 60s out here,” said one protester as he left.

With most peoples indoors for the night, the roads of the city were deserted, save a few civilian cars and a host of law enforcement vehicles winding their way back to the carpark of the Baltimore Ravens’ M&T Bank Stadium. The parking lot is the makeshift headquarters for all of the out-of-town law enforcement units, which included the New Jersey and Pennsylvania state police and the national guard.

On the largely empty streets a second person was seen by the Guardian being arrested for what police said was a violation of curfew. Two officers were separately seen downtown handing out food, shoes and clothes to several homeless people gathered outside the Healthcare for the Homeless shelter.