Van Hollen: Freddie Gray case a ‘wake-up call’

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) on Wednesday called the death of a 25-year-old African-American and the ensuing protests and riots in Baltimore a “wake-up call” that highlighted economic inequality and an imbalanced war on drugs.

Speaking at The Hill’s Roadmaps to Opportunity event, which focused on expanding opportunities for low-income children and families, Van Hollen called for discussions on how the federal government allocates its resources to address those issues.

{mosads}”This is a question of trying to make sure we have justice in America and also get at the deeper issues that are underlying some of the profound problems we have in Baltimore City,” he said.

Van Hollen said former Present Lyndon Johnson’s war on poverty has yet to eliminate economic inequality, adding that the war on drugs should be treated as a health issue, not a criminal issue.

“The result is, you’re seeing hundreds of thousands of people behind bars for nonviolent drug offenses,” he said. “This is a constellation of issues we need to address.”

The Maryland Democrat refused to weigh in on whether Baltimore officials should be “second-guessed” for their response to the protests over Freddie Gray’s death and riots across the city, but he praised the city for its efforts to overcome hardships.

“This is a moment where we all need to rededicate ourselves to do a lot better,” he said. “There’s these fundamental questions on how do we get economic empowerment, more economic opportunity both in the shorter term as well in the longer term.”