Racist & Illegal: Justice Department Slams Baltimore Police for Targeting Black Residents

A Justice Department investigation has concluded Baltimore police have carried out a practice of racially discriminatory policing by systematically stopping, searching and arresting black residents at a disproportionate rate. "BPD engages in a pattern or practice of making unconstitutional stops, searches and arrests; using enforcement strategies that produce severe and unjustified disparities in the rates of stops searches and arrests of African-Americans; using excessive force and retaliating against people engaging in constitutionally protected expression," said Deputy Assistant U.S. Attorney General Vanita Gupta. The 163-page report revealed "supervisors have issued explicitly discriminatory orders, such as directing a shift to arrest 'all the black hoodies' in a neighborhood." "Democracy Now!" speaks to Baltimore-based reporter Baynard Woods and activist Ralikh Hayes, the coordinator of Baltimore Bloc, a grassroots collective.