Baltimore Protests 2015 News: Just Like 1968 Riots After Martin Luther King Death, Claims Bishop

A pastor in Baltimore, Maryland, said the riots that erupted after the death of Freddie Gray in police custody were reminiscent of the riots after the death of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.

"In 1968, they took to the streets in anger," said Bishop Walter Thomas of the New Psalmist Baptist Church, according to ABC News.

He said when he saw the protesters in Baltimore last Monday, he saw despair and depression.

"When I looked into the eyes of the protesters [on Monday night], one thing that became clear is that there is a measure of despair and depression that comes from the accumulated effects of living in a system that doesn't include them," he said.

Thomas joined 174 pastors as they walked down the streets of Baltimore Monday to urge everyone to go home.

People burned buildings, looted establishments and about 20 police officers were hurt in protest over Gray's death.

Thomas said the riots were wrong. "We were going in the name of God to declare that this is not right, we can't destroy our neighbourhoods. This is not right for our children," he said.

He said he was amazed that people joined them in their walk. "The citizens stopped and applauded, a whole battalion of young people came out and joined us," Thomas said.

Thomas felt their presence nudged people to stop destroying the city.

"It wasn't so much what we said, it was that we were there. It was as if just [our] presence said 'alright let's bring ourselves back in check,'" he said.

Thomas said he was a college freshman at the University of Maryland when King was killed in 1968.

"Word broke out that there was trouble in Washington," he said. "One of my friends had a car so we drove down to 14th Street and U Street, and people were looting, they were running, police were coming down the streets, throwing gas canisters that were exploding all around us."

After escaping the riots, he returned to his dorm and found a note for him to call his dad.

When he called his father, he told him not to go to Washington.

"Daddy, we already been," Thomas replied.

He said the recent Baltimore riots are a sign of despair among black youth who feel that they are isolated.

"In 2015, people are not dreaming that dream," Thomas said referencing to King's famous speech.