Allen Bullock: Rioting Baltimore Teen Faces Higher Bail Than Baltimore Cops Charged With Murder

Allen Bullock, the Baltimore teen whose parents urged him to turn himself in, has a higher bail than that of the six Baltimore police officers charged with murder in connection with the death of Freddie Gray, MSNBC is reporting.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, 18-year-old Allen Bullock became an emblem of the rioting in Baltimore when news photographers captured striking images of him smashing the windows of a police car with a cone. His parents urged him to turn himself in, only to find out later that the Baltimore teen may be facing life in prison for his actions.

Now it turns out that the Baltimore teen’s bail is higher than that of the bail amounts set for the six Baltimore police officers who have been charged in the death of Freddie Gray — the man whose death in police custody sparked the Baltimore riots in the first place.

For the crime of rioting, Allen Bullock’s bail has been set at $500,000. Meanwhile, the six Baltimore cops charged in Freddie Gray’s death, facing charges ranging from assault to “depraved heart murder,” are facing bail amounts ranging from $250,000 to $350,000.

Meanwhile, all six Baltimore cops have made bail while Allen Bullock sits in jail. A half-million-dollar bail is an impossibly high figure for someone whose family lives in poverty, says his mother, Bobbi Smallwood.

“It’s just so much money. Who could afford to pay that?”

That disparity in bail amounts is emblematic of racism in Baltimore’s criminal justice system, says Think Progress writer Kay Steiger.

“The problem of racial or ethnic minorities being hit with higher bail amounts than their white counterparts is also well documented. The Sentencing Project pointed out in a report released last year that ‘blacks and Latinos are more likely than whites to be denied bail or to be imposed a bond that they cannot afford’ and that they are more often considered ‘flight risks because of their lower socioeconomic status, criminal records, and because of their race.'”

In the meantime, an online fundraising campaign to raise bail money for the Baltimore teen has been set up on crowdfunding site Indiegogo.

“Although we can agree that destroying the police cruiser was unnecessary, this bail price is ridiculously high for anyone to pay on their own. the purpose of this fundraiser is to get as close to $500,000 as possible to help this young man.”

As of this post, the online fundraising campaign for the Baltimore teen’s bail has raised $2,897 out of its $500,000 goal.

[Image courtesy of Getty Images/Jim Watson]