Thug Life Army

Former slave, Simon Deng, is due to reach the Hatem Memorial Bridge in Maryland at 3 p.m. today in The Sudan Freedom Walk. Deng is walking through Maryland en route to DC to protest the ongoing genocide and slavery in his home country of Sudan. He is scheduled to speak at the United Methodist Church at 101 S. Union Ave in Havre De Grace, MD tonight at 7 p.m.

Maryland Police have refused Deng's passage across the bridge. Deng says he does not want to be driven on any portion of his 300-mile walk and will swim the river if he has to.

"They are wrong for not letting me cross the bridge," Deng says. "I am appealing to the Governor of Maryland and other officials to let me cross, so that I can continue."

The Hatem Memorial Bridge is a four-lane bridge approximately 1.5 miles long that crosses the Susquehanna River on US 40 between Perryville and Havre de Grace in northeast Maryland. Volunteers have been calling both Federal and State officials to intercede on Deng's behalf.

Deng began his walk at the United Nations with former NBA star Manute Bol on March 15. It has been gaining momentum, as people of diverse ages and backgrounds have been joining him along the way.

More than 1.5 million people have been killed in Sudan between 1955 and 1973, and an additional 2 million were killed from 1983 to 2005 in what has become the largest civil war in the history of Africa. Since 2003, the ongoing genocide in Western Sudan (Darfur) has resulted in the slaughter of more than 300,000 in just the past 3 years. Over 10,000 humans continue die as a result of this crisis each week.

The Sudan Freedom Walk will end on April 5, with a rally in Washington, DC in front of the Capitol. The spans five states, with stops in nineteen cities -- including New York City, Trenton NJ, Philadelphia, Wilmington DE and Baltimore.

For more information, visit http://sudanfreedomwalk.org.