
Despite severe storms that rolled through the city, a few dozen friends, neighbors, colleagues, and family members of arabber Bilal “B.J.” Abdullah gathered in Upton, on the 600 block of Smithson Street, with candles and balloons to remember a man who was a fixture in the West Baltimore community.
“I’ll miss him,” said Lawrence Mack, a fellow arabber and longtime friend. “We’ve been arabbers our whole lives. We’re a part of the city. You hear the bell, you’ll stop and buy something. [B.J.] was one of the best.”




First reported by the Baltimore Beat, Abdullah died in Shock Trauma following an altercation with the Baltimore Police Department at the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and Laurens Street in Upton on Tuesday, June 17. A statement released by BPD alleges that when officers approached Abdullah, who they believed to be armed, he pulled a gun and shot an officer in the foot, before three officers returned fire. The incident is now under review by the Maryland Office of the Attorney General.
Few at the vigil believe the police’s story: “They killed [B.J.] for nothing,” said Tawanda Jones, an anti police-brutality activist whose family is sadly familiar with this type of grief. Her unarmed brother Tyrone West died in police custody following a routine traffic stop in 2013 in Northeast Baltimore. “The cops fired 20 times. I think they shot that cop in the foot. The reason they haven’t released the video [right away] is they’re trying to cover it up.”
As of Friday morning, the family was still waiting for the police bodycam footage to be released. “People will see that [B.J.] didn’t shoot anyone,” Jones said. “It’s happening again, just like my brother.”

Shiny blue and black balloons released at the vigil were blown into trees by the passing storm. White tea candles that spelled out “BJ” and formed a heart rarely stayed lit due to the high winds. But that didn’t deter family members from celebrating the memory of an arabber and friend who looked out for his community.
“The neighborhood’s response has been pretty supportive of the family,” said Abdullah’s cousin Michaela Dutchess Brown, founding director of Organizing Black, a grassroots organization dedicated to Black liberation. “I’ll always remember him as carrying on in the footsteps of his father. My uncle was an arabber first, he used to be part owner of a stable up on North Avenue. And so it was a blessing to watch my cousin keep a long Baltimore tradition alive.”
A march for those demanding justice for Abdullah is planned this for Friday, June 20 at 6 p.m., starting at the corner of Pennsylvania and North avenues.






