Thousands of people took to the streets, a day after the officers involved in the death of Freddie Gray were charged with homicide, with many exuberantly celebrating the move, while demanding justice to be served.
"We will gather in peace and we will march in peace and we will march until police brutality ends in the United States," Malik Shabazz, president of Black Lawyers for Justice which helped organise Saturday's march, told the crowd, according to Reuters.
Using social media hashtags #BlackLivesMatter and #BlackSpring, rallies were also planned on Saturday in more than 20 US cities including Dallas, New York and Los Angeles.
At the rally at City Hall, protesters held signs that said, "Running black is not a crime in Baltimore" and "Who's policing the Baltimore City police?", the Baltimore Sun reported.
Mark-Anthony Montgomery of the group Hearts with Promise said the protesters are fighting a "war on poverty" and a "war on injustice."
"America, you told us we were animals! You called us slaves!" Montgomery told the crowd. "Black lives matter. White lives matter. All lives matter. ... Thank you, Freddie Gray, for your life!"
Freddie Gray died last month after he was left with a broken neck during his arrest.
Baltimore's state attorney Marilyn Mosby said police ignored the unresponsive man, who had repeatedly appealed for help.
“Mr Gray suffered a severe and critical neck injury as a result of being handcuffed, shackled by his feet and unrestrained inside of the Baltimore police department wagon,” Ms Mosby said at a press conference on Friday morning.
“Despite Mr Gray’s seriously deteriorating medical condition, no medical assistance was rendered or summoned for Mr Gray at that time by any officer.”
The prosecutor also said the arrest was in fact illegal, as the small locked knife he was carrying was legal in Maryland.
Protestors in the city have demanded action to be taken against those responsible for the death, the latest in several deaths of Afro-Americans at the hands of police in the US.
Baltimore will remain under a curfew on Saturday night, despite relative calm returning to the city.
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