Thousands rally in Baltimore after police officers charged

　　People attend a rally in front of the City Hall in Baltimore, Maryland, the United States, May 2, 2015. Thousands of people in Baltimore, the largest city in U.S. State of Maryland, on Saturday gathered at a rally and marched through streets to celebrate a decision by the city's top prosecutor to charge six officers in connection with the death of Freddie Gray, the young African-American man who died in police custody from a spinal injury. (Xinhua/Bao Dandan)

WASHINGTON, May 2  -- Thousands of people rallied and marched through streets of Baltimore, the largest city in the U.S. state of Maryland, on Saturday to celebrate charges against six police officers and to continue to press the authorities for justice for African-Americans.

"Indict, convict, send those killer cops to jail!" a crowd chanted at the City Hall Plaza with a leader on the stage. "The people united will never be defeated."

"No justice, No peace!" the crowd yelled. Some of them held signs which wrote: "Raise the race conversation!" "End Racism Now!" and "Racism is the disease, revolution is the cure!"

"They need to be convicted. A charge is not a conviction," Melgen O'Hare, a Baltimore resident told Xinhua. "It's gonna take a lot more pressure, a lot more prosecution for this (to) happen. I want the police convicted, not charged."

"I've witnessed discrimination and racism ... Everyone in the community should gather together and support this cause, otherwise nothing is gonna happen, nothing gonna change," she added.

Paul Blackwell, who came from Washington D.C. to support the rally in Baltimore, believed that the police officers will be convicted because Baltimore is a "major city" in the United States, not like small places such as Ferguson.

On Friday, Marilyn Mosby, state attorney for Baltimore, laid out the charges against the six police officers involved in Freddie Gray's case, including second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. Four of them were charged with felonies and two with misdemeanors.

On April 19, Gray, a 25-year-old African-American, died of a spinal injury believed to have been sustained during or after his arrest in the previous week.

"We will march at Washington D.C. next Saturday," a protester told the rally. According to media reports, rallies were also planned on Saturday in more than 20 U.S. cities including Dallas, New York and Los Angeles.

Some protesters also urged the authorities to lift the curfew on Saturday. Baltimore residents have largely heeded a night curfew which started after Monday, when protests turned violent and dozens of buildings and vehicles were burned, leaving some 20 police officers injured and more than 200 people arrested.