WASHINGTON 鈥� The NAACP opened a satellite office in one of the areas of Baltimore affected by Monday’s rioting, aiming to address complaints of police brutality and racial profiling.
In a news conference Tuesday morning, Tessa Hill-Aston, President of the NAACP鈥檚 Baltimore City Branch, said that an office in Sandtown was necessary because 鈥減eople are fed up鈥� with the kind of police treatment that led to the death of Freddie Gray, who died of injuries suffered in police custody.
鈥淪omebody has to be indicted for somebody鈥檚 death,鈥� she said.
Gray is one name on 鈥渁 long list鈥� of victims of police, said Cornell William Brooks, president and CEO of the national NAACP. Black men, he said, are 21 times more likely to die at hands of police than whites 鈥� one every 28 hours.
鈥淭his is not an individual tragedy, an individual phenomenon,鈥� he said.
And while eyes are focused on the city in the wake of Monday鈥檚 violence, in which 15 police officers were injured and 200 people were arrested, Brooks was blunt.
鈥淚鈥檓 less concerned about 鈥榃hy is it an uprising now?鈥� than I am about 鈥榃hen will this all end?鈥欌��
He compared the cancellation of Baltimore schools Tuesday — 鈥渢here are children who are not in school today鈥� — with the deliberate segregation of the Old South.
The kind of 鈥渞ough-riding鈥� that is said to have contributed to Gray鈥檚 death, in which a suspect is taken into a van without a seat belt and deliberately subjected to a difficult journey, is nothing new for the NAACP, Hill-Aston聽said. Several years ago, the organization sued the Baltimore police over similar treatment.
鈥淲e will be addressing that,鈥� she said.
Brooks said that 鈥渞ough-riding鈥� was mentioned in the Justice Department鈥檚 report on police tactics in Ferguson, Missouri, and called it an 鈥渋llegal and unconstitutional鈥� form of policing.
鈥淭argeting innocent citizens for intimidation is not lawful,” he said.
He was also clear about possible responses.
鈥淭he NAACP is not adverse to taking people to court in the course of the last 106 years. And if we receive complaints from people in the community about this kind of conduct, we will exercise every available legal option.鈥�
Brooks said of the Monday violence, 鈥淲e have a fraction of the citizenry who have given over to anger in ways that are unconstructive.鈥�
鈥淎t least 1,000 people are volunteering to clean up streets that they did not dirty or destroy. That says something about the folks in the community.鈥�
In the city, he said, there is “an overwhelmingly larger group of people who focus their anger into action and into reform and building communities.鈥�
鈥淲hen all these cameras go away, these people will be right here, fighting day in and day out to bring about an end to racial profiling and police brutality.鈥�
Hill-Aston聽added that the NAACP was working in concert with neighborhood associations such as the Grand Masons, fraternities and sororities, some of whom sent their presidents to the news conference.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not taking over; we鈥檙e adding to.鈥�
A previous version of this story incorrectly referred to Tessa Hill-Aston as Roslyn Brock.
