Baltimore teenager released after anonymous supporter pays $500,000 bail
Teen photographed smashing police vehicles’ windshields released on bail
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Your support makes all the difference.A Baltimore teen who faced a $500,000 bail for alleged rioting last month was released after an anonymous donor posted his bail.
Allen Bullock, 18, spoke to The Guardian on Tuesday regarding the death of his friend Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old who died after suffering a fatal spine injury while in police custody.
“It wasn’t that he died, it was how he died,” he said.
Mr Bullock was photographed apparently smashing a police car window with a traffic cone. Shortly after the footage surfaced, he turned himself and was charged with eight criminal counts. Authorities held him on $500,000 bail.
“I thought [the bail amount] was a joke,” said Bobbie Smallwood, Mr Bullock’s mother. “Busting out two windows is more important than a life?”
Mr Bullock was jailed for 10 days before his bail was posted by an anonymous donor through a bondsman last Thursday. The family is still unaware of who paid the $50,000 minimum for the teen’s release.
Maurice Hawkins, the teen’s stepfather, said that the family has been harassed by law enforcement since the photo went viral. Mr Bullocks has even been bullied by classmates and called a criminal at school. But the family only blames the officers who killed Freddie Gray and a seemingly broken justice system.
“The last few weeks have exposed the underbelly of our criminal justice system in a major way,” Mr Gordon said.
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