Morgan Freeman speaks out on death of Freddie Gray, Baltimore riots

Morgan Freeman speaks out on death of Freddie Gray, Baltimore riots

Morgan Freeman, seen during a SiriusXM Town Hall on April 30 in New York, recently spoke out about the media coverage of the Baltimore riots and commented on how it was handled better than Ferguson.

Morgan Freeman has a thing or two to say about the coverage around the Baltimore riots stemming from the death of Freddie Gray.

"Now, they're getting more of the whole picture," the 77-year-old actor told U.K.'s Daily Beast.

While he's still not a cheerleader of the media's angles pertaining to Gray — who was wrongfully arrested April 12 and suffered a fatal spinal injury while in police custody — Freeman admitted it's better than the coverage from similar stories like Michael Brown's death.

"Ferguson? No," he said. "Baltimore seems to be coming up with a different scenario in the background.

"People are saying, 'You were not all there when we were just talking and trying to make a point, but if we set something on fire, all of sudden you're all here,'" he continued. "'Why is that? What's the difference?' And some young reporters are listening. That sort of observation is very useful."
JOE MARINO/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Two days following the funeral for Baltimore man Freddie Gray, police and protestors clash at the intersection of W. North St. and Pennsylvania Ave. on April 28 in Baltimore.

After days of violent protests with some residents looting the city they call home, which resulted in more than 200 arrests and 100 police injured, thousands of peaceful protestors took to the Bmore streets Saturday in a "victory rally" after six cops were charged in the Gray's death.

"Nobody deserves to die that way," said protester A.J. Handy. "It sends a message: you can't just target people and get away with it."

Freeman applauded the use of technology as a way to get the real story out.


"Technology lets us see behind the scenes a little bit better," he told the Daily Beast.

"Police have a standard reaction to shooting somebody. 'I fear for my life, I fear for my safety,'" the actor added. "Now, at least you can see, 'Hey, his hands were up in the air! What part of your safety were you afraid of? The guy was running away, what part of your safety was in danger?'"

Freeman's frustrations don't only stem from his disappointment in overall media coverage, but also from seeing it firsthand.

Protestors clash with police in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray.

"There was one situation I saw where a cop told a guy to get out of the car, said, 'Show me your driver's license,' and the guy reached back into the car and the cop shot him!" he recalled.

Freeman, like others celebrities, has used his fame as a platform to get messages out about police brutality. Through the Science Channel series "Through the Wormhole," which he narrates and produces, Freeman was able to tackle the issue of racial tensions in an episode entitled, "Are We All Bigots?"

"What I learned from making (this) episode is yes, we probably are hardwired to be bigots," he told the Daily News. "And it's something we have to consciously work at overcoming."