10 years after Freddie Gray's death, calls for police reform and racial equity persist in Baltimore

BALTIMORE (AP) — It was almost instinctual for Ray Kelly to jump into action when he heard about a group of high school students clashing with police. He wanted to help protect the kids and de-escalate things, but instead, he watched his neighborhood burn.

Unrest broke out after Freddie Gray died from spinal injuries sustained during transport in a police van in April 2015. The protesters stormed through majority-Black west Baltimore, setting police cars ablaze and looting businesses. They were fighting the generations of oppression experienced by Black Americans, from racist housing policies and crumbling schools to limited job opportunities, rampant gun violence and poor living conditions.

A community activist from Gray’s neighborhood, Kelly had focused on police accountability for years. As federal investigators launched a probe into the Baltimore Police Department and local prosecutors charged the officers involved, he doubled down in calling for stronger oversight at a time of growing national outrage over police brutality.

Ten years later, his ongoing efforts illustrate Baltimore’s progress — and lack thereof.

Among the positive changes, Kelly said, there are more mechanisms to address police misconduct and hold officers accountable. Homicides and shootings are trending downward after a prolonged surge that began in the wake of Gray’s death. And while west Baltimore still faces widespread poverty and neglect, he said, at least elected officials are paying more attention.

“People have to hear us out, because there is now this possibility that we can organize and elevate our voices,” Kelly said. “I think Freddie Gray’s death put that in motion.”

But progress is often painfully slow and woefully insufficient. Meanwhile city leaders face new obstacles from the Trump administration’s escalating attacks on civil rights and diversity initiatives.

For Gray’s family, a decade has passed since their private loss played out on national news.

Joined by the mayor and other dignitaries Saturday morning, his twin sister Fredricka laid a wreath of flowers near the site of his arrest, marking the anniversary of when he died in the hospital.

“It’s still justice for Freddie Gray,” she said, repeating what became a rallying cry in 2015. “Ten years now.”

Baltimore has a long history of mistreating its Black residents. In 1910, city leaders enacted the country’s first residential segregation ordinance restricting African American homeowners to certain blocks.

Kelly grew up during the height of the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s and the national war on drugs, when police routinely conducted “street sweeps” or mass arrests in west Baltimore. When he started selling drugs to support himself during high school, the police were just another obstacle in an already uphill battle. He later struggled with addiction and served time in prison.

After coming home in the early 2000s, Kelly started working with a neighborhood advocacy group to improve public safety. That put him in a unique position when the U.S. Department of Justice launched its probe of city police: Knowing residents would be wary about cooperating with federal investigators, Kelly helped make introductions and encouraged people to participate.

“It was a gamble,” he said. “It wasn’t really what this community does.”

But the gamble paid off. The investigation uncovered longstanding patterns of excessive force, unlawful arrests and discriminatory policing practices, especially against Black people.

The findings resulted in a 2017 consent decree mandating a series of reforms for the department, which promised to overhaul its policies and training.

Since then, progress is inching along.

The agency celebrated a milestone this week when a federal judge terminated two of the consent decree’s 17 sections after finding full and sustained compliance — including with rules for transporting people in police vans. Gray was handcuffed, shackled and transported without a seatbelt as officers repeatedly ignored his calls for medical attention.

Department leaders say large-scale change is happening, though not overnight. Officers have increased foot patrols, decreased low-level arrests and even undergone training on emotional regulation. They’re less likely to use force when taking people into custody, and they’ve contributed to historic reductions in homicides by partnering with service providers to address the root causes of gun violence.

Police Commissioner Richard Worley said that over the course of his career, he’s watched the culture of policing shift from “warriors to guardians.”

Nonetheless, many Baltimore residents still don’t trust the police to act with compassion and integrity. They don’t believe the department has undergone a significant cultural change.

“It’s going to take years and years to redefine the police department in the eyes of the community,” U.S. District Judge James Bredar said during Thursday’s consent decree hearing. “This work is critical, even if it doesn’t bear fruit immediately.”

Gray, 25, was arrested near his home in west Baltimore’s Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood, a once-thriving community that had fallen into disrepair.

In its heyday, nearby Pennsylvania Avenue was a Black entertainment district with renowned jazz clubs, upscale shops and vibrant nightlife. Its cultural artifacts include the childhood home of Thurgood Marshall, the first African American appointed to the Supreme Court, and a bronze statue of jazz legend Billie Holiday, who also had roots in west Baltimore.

A confluence of factors contributed to its decline, including urban flight and chronic disinvestment. Some businesses left after unrest following the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

Open-air drug markets moved in, and over-policing became a common complaint from residents. So when Gray was violently taken into custody after making eye contact with officers and running away, that longstanding frustration boiled over. Officials responded to the 2015 protests by bringing in the Maryland National Guard and imposing a citywide curfew.

Many residents celebrated when prosecutors later announced criminal charges against the six officers involved, but none were convicted.

In the meantime, political leaders visited Sandtown and pledged to invest in housing, youth programs and more. Those big promises have largely failed to materialize.

“It’s still the same damn place with the same damn issues,” Kelly said, gazing down the street outside the former church rectory that houses his advocacy organization, the Citizens Policing Project. “We’ve heard a lot of talk, but this is what we see.”

When the city closed the neighborhood’s recreation center in 2021, Sandtown youth were basically left with nowhere to go, said 17-year-old Ryeheen Watson, whose childhood unfolded in the shadow of Gray’s death.

“It was like, nothing good comes for our community,” he said. “But when you’re starting as an underdog, there’s nowhere to go but up.”

The second Trump administration will likely create even more challenges for communities like Sandtown as the White House slashes federal initiatives aimed at advancing racial equity.

Baltimore attorney Billy Murphy, who represented the Gray family, said that while Black people continue fighting for their collective future, a resurgence of white supremacism is infecting national politics.

“Where are we today? That’s where we are,” Murphy said at a recent event commemorating Gray’s death. “We are heading backwards.”

But at least on the local level, political discourse now includes more progressive Black voices, said Dayvon Love, director of public policy for the grassroots think tank Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle. In his view, Gray’s death was a turning point.

“That has advanced our ability to advocate unapologetically for Black people in ways that before the uprising were shut out,” Love said.

Mayor Brandon Scott says his administration is achieving long-awaited progress by investing in historically neglected neighborhoods, including a $15 million plan to renovate Sandtown’s recreation center and upgrades to Gilmor Homes, the public housing complex where Gray was arrested.

However, Scott said in an interview, “We’re not celebrating here, because the work is not complete.”

For Kelly, discussions of politics and progress often miss the point by failing to acknowledge Gray himself, the young man from west Baltimore who died after a tragic encounter with police a decade ago.

Instead of marking the anniversary of his death, Kelly suggested, perhaps it’s his birthday that should be celebrated: Aug. 16, 1989.

A street sign identifying the 1700 block of Presbury Street is seen, Monday, April 14, 2025, in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood in Baltimore, where Freddie Gray was arrested before his subsequent death in 2015. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Fredricka Gray, twin sister of Freddie Gray, walks with a wreath to lay during a memorial event commemorating the ten-year anniversary of her brother's death, Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, left, accompanied by attorney William H. "Billy" Murphy, Jr., speaks at a memorial event commemorating the ten-year anniversary of the death of Freddie Gray, Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

FILE - A mural depicts Freddie Gray, who died from spinal injuries sustained during transport in a Baltimore police van, in Baltimore, May 7, 2015. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Abandoned row homes are seen in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood in Baltimore, Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Litter lines the street as people walk and congregate on Pennsylvania Avenue near the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood in Baltimore, Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

A side entrance of the vacant Lillian S. Jones Recreation Center is boarded shut and a broken window is seen, Monday, April 14, 2025, in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

A sign on the Lillian S. Jones Recreation Center remains despite the center being closed since 20121, as seen in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood in Baltimore, Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

A mural dedicated to Freddie Gray is seen Monday, April 14, 2025, in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood in Baltimore, near where he was arrested before his subsequent death in 2015. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Dayvon Love, director of public policy for Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, speaks during a panel discussion, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Ray Kelly, executive director of the Citizens Policing Project, listens during a panel discussion, Friday, April 11, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Fredricka Gray, twin sister of Freddie Gray, center, embraces William H. "Billy" Murphy, Jr. as Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, left, speaks at a memorial event commemorating the ten-year anniversary of the death of Freddie Gray, Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Ray Kelly, executive director of the Citizens Policing Project, poses for a portrait, Monday, April 14, 2025, in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

FILE - Protesters march through Baltimore the day after charges were announced against the police officers involved in Freddie Gray's death, May 2, 2015. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Fredricka Gray, twin sister of Freddie Gray, lays a wreath at a mural during a memorial event commemorating the ten-year anniversary of her brother's death, Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

A mural dedicated to Freddie Gray is seen behind a fence, Monday, April 14, 2025, in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood in Baltimore, near where he was arrested before his subsequent death in 2015. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)