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Boy, 7: ‘I Support Civil Rights And That Means I Support Baltimore’

caption: Kingston Howell, 7, joined a Seattle protest in support of Freddie Gray, a black man from Baltimore who died of injuries sustained in police custody.
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Kingston Howell, 7, joined a Seattle protest in support of Freddie Gray, a black man from Baltimore who died of injuries sustained in police custody.
KUOW Photo/Gil Aegerter

About 50 people blocked traffic in downtown Seattle on Wednesday evening to show support for protesters in Baltimore.

Riots began over the weekend in Baltimore after 25-year-old Freddie Gray died as a result of injuries he sustained while in police custody. It’s the latest in a series of deaths of young black men at the hands of police.

In Seattle, demonstrators as young as seven crowded near Westlake Center in solidarity.

Kingston Howell of Olympia came with his parents, David and Lisa Howell.

“I support civil rights and that means I support Baltimore and this supports Baltimore,” Kingston, 7, said.

"It feels like a moment in history," Lisa Howell said. "I want him to know that, and that he didn't stand by on the sidelines."

Protesters gathered in an intersection at Fourth and Pike.

They called for an end to police brutality.

Emma Kaplan was the organizer: “Why are we disrupting business as usual? Because business as usual has been killing us.”

But James Canova of Seattle said the protests unfairly create traffic jams. Motorists were trapped on 4th during the entire protest -- and many were visibly frustrated.

“The way to get people to stop murdering minorities is not to have those minorities rise up and revolt and start punish people who didn’t do anything,” he said.

Protesters say it’s necessary to get the message out.

Gina Petry said riots aren’t an act of violence, but a response to violence.

“I mean people are losing their lives, so we have to get people to pay attention to this is a problem we need to stand together and fix,” Petry said.

Seattle’s protest was one of several around the country to show solidarity.

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