Supporters of Baltimore police will march outside City Hall this weekend, their second rally in the city on behalf of the department, which has fallen under sharp criticism following the death of Freddie Gray.
Members of the group Stand Up For Baltimore City Police plan to gather at the War Memorial Plaza from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday.
About 150 people attended the first march on May 30, rallying for hours, chanting "Blue Lives Matter" and taking pictures with uniformed officers.
Most voiced their support for police officers in general, but some held signs on behalf of the officers charged in Gray's death. Those officers face a range of charges including second-degree murder and manslaughter.
Gray, 25, died a week after his spinal cord was severed during an arrest in West Baltimore in April. His death set off a week of protests, which gave way to rioting that prompted city officials to declare a citywide curfew and a state of emergency, and deploy the National Guard.
The rally drew about a dozen counter-demonstrators, and the two groups, separated by police, shouted at each other for hours.
United for Blue, a group formed by wives of police officers, rallied in Annapolis the Sunday following the first day of unrest in Baltimore. Their march was not a response to the unrest — it had been planned months before — but the group said the events 30 miles north had galvanized them.
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