Baltimore, Maryland
If you have been following the situation in Baltimore, after a young black man suffered a critical neck injury in the back of a police van, the moment everyone has been waiting for has arrived.
The city’s chief prosecutor has charged one police officer with murder and five others with lesser crimes in the death of Freddie Gray. This case, along with others from around the country, has fueled new anger over police conduct in black communities.
Many were caught by surprise, when Marilyn Mosby announced the swift decision. Mosby has only been in the prosecutor’s seat since January. Baltimore has experienced its worst civil unrest in decades since the death of Freddie Gray.
Mosby’s decision to charge the officers came just hours after the Maryland state medical examiner had ruled the death a homicide, and a day after police handed her office the findings of its internal review of Gray's April 12 arrest.
Caesar R. Goodson Jr., a black officer who drove the police van, received the most severe charge -- second-degree murder, an offense that carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.
All six officers - three black and three white, five men and one woman - posted bond after their arrest Friday and were released from custody. Their union rose to their defense.
Mosby, a 35-year-old African American, whose family includes generations of law enforcement officers, rejected the Baltimore Fraternal Order of Police Union's call for a special prosecutor.
Rioters burned buildings and looted stores in Baltimore on Monday night after Gray's funeral, and protests spread to other major cities in a reprise of demonstrations set off by police killings last year of unarmed black men in Ferguson, Missouri, New York and elsewhere.
Gray, 25, sustained his fatal injury while riding in a police van, the prosecutor said, citing the autopsy report. Gray succumbed to his spinal injuries in a hospital on April 19.
Officers cuffed Gray's hands behind his back and shackled his legs but did not secure him with a seat belt while the van was moving, a violation of police department policy, Mosby said. Then, with "depraved indifference," officers ignored Gray's repeated pleas for medical attention, she said.
"To the people of Baltimore and the demonstrators across America, I heard your call for 'no justice, no peace.' Your peace is sincerely needed as I work to deliver justice on behalf of this young man," Mosby said at a news conference that quickly changed the tone in the city.
The attorney for Gray's family, William H. “Billy” Murphy, said the family was shocked. However, he said "it was a good shock that justice had been approached in this forthright and courageous manner by this prosecutor."
Apart from the one murder charge, the officers faced charges ranging from manslaughter to assault and misconduct in office, which carry potential prison terms of between three and 10 years.
Goodson also faces a charge of involuntary manslaughter, as do three others: Sgt. Alicia D. White, Officer William G. Porter and Lt. Brian Rice. All six, including Officer Edward M. Nero and Officer Garrett E. Miller, face lesser charges.
No comments:
Post a Comment