One of the protesters in Baltimore, Maryland chose to dance to the tune of a Michael Jackson song rather than join the riots and the violence that ensued in the area on April 27, Monday.
The protester was identified as Dimitri Reeves and he cranked a Michael Jackson song entitled "Beat It" while on top of a box truck. He was just two blocks away from protesters who looted and burned a pharmacy located in downtown Baltimore.
Reeves was dubbed by netizens and protesters as the "Michael Jackson protester" after his act caught the media and videos of him dancing made rounds online.
This is not the first time that Reeves did such as the 22-year-old recording artist and street performer regularly heads out to the streets and dances, the Daily News reported.
The performer told the publication that he wanted to go out and spread positivity in order to let people understand that flipping cars and burning buildings is not the answer. He added that although he was performing, he could see the protesters running down the street and everyone was just so tense.
Some of the protesters clapped and recorded the performance of Reeves while others removed the plug and told him to stop what he was doing. Reeves noted that he did not want to make light of the situation as it was a serious issue but he wanted to encourage the protesters turned rioters to stop and think of a better alternative on how to fix the matter at hand.
The cause of the riot in Baltimore was due to a black man named Freddie Gray who suffered from a fatal spinal cord injury after being under the custody of the police. Gray inexplicably died on April 19 after a week of being arrested by Baltimore police.
The pandemonium began on Monday evening leaving around 200 people taken into custody and injuring 20 police officials, CNN reported. As of today, the riots and violence already stopped as many people from Baltimore volunteered to clean up the streets after the destruction and burning of buildings and many businesses in the area.
This is the latest riot in the United States that is racially-linked. It follows after the protests in Ferguson, Missouri turned into a riot when an 18-year-old teenager named Michael Brown was shot dead by a police official although he was unarmed.
Another incident was when when Eric Garner was killed in New York after a police official put him in a chokehold resulting to people protesting worldwide.