UPDATE: The Baltimore Sun reports that gang members have joined City Council members at Baltimore's City Hall today to request that violence in the city stop:
A gang member who identified himself as "Trey" wore a red bandana on his arm. He and another self-described gang member, who also wore a red bandana, said they were “against the violence” and prevented stores from being looted.
If we can stick together doing something negative, then we can stick together doing something positive, the man identified as "Trey" said. I need a job. Most of the youths need a job. We need help. It ain’t right what people was doing, but you’ve got to understand. Some people are struggling.
City Council President Bernard C. "Jack” Young said politicians, faith leaders and gangs must come together to stop the violence in Baltimore.
“These men have been out on the street quelling the senseless violence that has consumed our city,” Young said.
Gang members in Baltimore want to make it clear that they did not unite against police in the city as authorities have insisted.
Yesterday, prior to the unrest in Baltimore, police released a statement alleging that members of the Bloods, Crips, and Black Guerilla family had formed a "credible threat," aiming to "take out" local law enforcement. But according to WBAL, local gang members claim they did nothing of the sort:
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.
We did not come together against the cops, he said. 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.
The Daily Beast adds that gang members agreed to a weekend cease fire to take part in protests of Freddie Gray's death:
DeRay McKesson, an organizer known for his work in Ferguson, also confirmed the street-crime ceasefire. He live-tweeted Saturday’s mostly peaceful demonstration, which later descended into clashes with police and smashed storefronts and cop cars, and alerted followers of a possible respite in gangland.
The fight against police brutality has united people in many ways that we have not seen regularly, and that’s really powerful, McKesson told The Daily Beast. The reality is, police have been terrorizing black people as far back as we can remember. It will take all of us coming together to change a corrupt system.
[via WBAL, Raw Story and The Daily Beast]
