Activist Tom Hayden on Police Brutality Protests in 1960s vs. Baltimore

This segment originally aired April 30, 2015.

As protests continue in Baltimore and around the country over the death of Freddie Gray in police custody, "Democracy Now!" talks to one of the leading activists in the country, Tom Hayden, who's no stranger to police and protest.

Hayden was a major organizer of demonstrations against the Vietnam War during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968. He became one of the Chicago 8 and was convicted of crossing state lines to start a riot. The judge ordered Bobby Seale, one of his fellow defendants and the only African American, to be bound and gagged and chained to his chair. Hayden would later organize in Newark, New Jersey, and go on to write the book, "Rebellion in Newark: Official Violence and Ghetto Response."

"The country came to near collapse. Baltimore today was everywhere in 1967, 1968," Hayden said. "So we have to remember that these issues of going abroad to fight enemies leaves our internal problems festering, and they can blow at any time. So, history repeats, I'm sorry to say."