Baltimore gang members are telling local media outlets not to believe a word from police officials who said that gangs like the Bloods, the Crips and the Black Guerrilla Family have called a truce among one another so that they can unite to kill white police officers, Raw Story reported, via WBAL-TV.
Hundreds of protesters, including warring gang members, have packed the streets of Baltimore in recent days to protest the fatal detainment of 25-year-old Freddie Gray by police.
“We want to tell the people of the city right now, of Baltimore City, that the image that they’re trying to portray of the gangs in Baltimore—the BGF, the Bloods, the Crips—we did not make that truce to harm cops,” a self-described gang member told WBAL-TV.
The individual went on to describe the smear campaign that local police have levied upon Baltimore’s gangs and said that gang members are not going to allow that kind of misinformation to go unchecked. “We did not come together against the cops,” the individual continued. “We’re not about to allow you all to paint this picture of us. We got soldiers out here right now that are dirty—we dirty. They threw bombs at us to try and stop what’s going on right now. You all are not about to do that to us.”
Baltimore police released a statement Monday alerting law enforcement to be on alert because local gangs had entered a “partnership” and were on a mission to kill officers: “The Criminal Intelligence Unit received credible information that members of various gangs including the Black Guerrilla Family, Bloods and Crips have entered into a partnership to ‘take out’ law-enforcement officers.”
Gang members said that local chapters had agreed to a cease-fire in order to participate in the protests against police brutality and to bring attention to what happened to Freddie Gray.
Carlos Muhammad, a local Nation of Islam minister, commends their efforts. “I can say with honesty those brothers demonstrated they can be united for a common good,” Muhammad said. “At the rally, they made the call that they must be united on that day. It should be commended.”
Another gang member said that it’s the police who are behaving violently and excessively and instigating matters. “We’ve been out here all day trying to prevent people from breaking the stores, [but] they hit us with a bomb, they burned my shirt, they ripped it, and we were still standing right there, but we came right back there holding hands together and we march together, we’re still holding strong, and we want them to stop hurting us so we can just live our life and keep going,” the gang member said.