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In Md., lining up to mourn

A day after a peaceful protest over the death of Freddie Gray turned violent, the mood was somber for his viewing.

Mourners lined up Sunday to pay their respects to Freddie Gray, whose funeral is planned for Monday.
Mourners lined up Sunday to pay their respects to Freddie Gray, whose funeral is planned for Monday.Read more

BALTIMORE - Mourners filed for hours Sunday past the coffin of the man who died after sustaining serious injuries in the custody of Baltimore police, somberly paying respects after a night of violent protests.

All afternoon, a steady stream of people entered the funeral home for a wake for Freddie Gray, 25, who died a week after an encounter with police left him with spinal injuries. The funeral is planned for Monday.

Mourners passed by Gray's silk-draped, white coffin where he lay dressed in a white shirt, black pants, white sneakers, and an all-white Los Angeles Dodgers baseball cap. Above the coffin was a floral arrangement and inside the lid was a pillow with a screen-printed picture of Gray flanked by doves and the quote, "Peace, Y'all" at the bottom edge.

Mourners also gathered outside the funeral home, Vaughn Green East. Some held up signs that read, "We remember Freddie" and "Our Hearts Are With The Gray Family."

Melissa McDonald, 36, who said she was Gray's cousin, wore a shirt with "Freddie Forever" printed on the back. She described her cousin as a nonviolent person. "He didn't deserve to die the way he did," she said.

At a service earlier Sunday, Pastor Jamal Bryant told attendees, including members of Gray's family, that "somebody is going to have to pay" for Gray's death. If "you're black in America, your life is always under threat," he said at Empowerment Temple A.M.E. Church. Bryant also talked about violence that erupted Saturday night during what began as a peaceful demonstration by more than a thousand people.

Thirty-four people were arrested, according to the Baltimore Police Department, and six police officers sustained minor injuries.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake held a news conference Sunday and addressed protesters. "We need to support peaceful demonstration and continue to enforce in our communities that rioting, violence, and looting will not be tolerated in our city," she said.

Earlier Sunday, J.M. Giordano, a photo editor at Baltimore's City Paper, said police beat him as he covered one of the protests. Sait Serkan Gurbuz, a photographer with Reuters, said police detained him as he was shooting photographs of the scuffle.