Some of the men volunteering Thursday had heard of Gray, the man who in 2015 was arrested in the area and died from injuries suffered while in police custody. Gray had been trying to turn his life around after several small-time drug arrests. He had suffered from lead poisoning growing up in a row home not far from where the men stood. His family settled a lawsuit they had filed against a landlord alleging that lead paint in the house resulted in “permanent injury to their nerves and nervous system and permanent brain damage,” according to the court records. Protests erupted after Gray’s death, and violence spiked.