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Freddie Gray death: cries of 'justice' in Baltimore after six officers charged


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State’s attorney Marilyn Mosby announces criminal charges including murder and says Gray’s arrest by Baltimore police was illegal: ‘No crime had been committed’

 

 

Oliver Laughland and Raya Jalabi in Baltimore and Jon Swaine in New York

 

Friday 1 May 2015 17.49 BST

 

 

 

A criminal prosecution for murder will be brought over the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, the city’s top prosecutor announced on Friday morning.

 

The announcement came after nearly two weeks of growing anger over Gray’s death, and only hours after state’s attorney Marilyn Mosby received the results of a police investigation.

 

“Mr Gray’s death was a homicide,” Mosby declared. His arrest was illegal, and his treatment in custody amounted to murder and manslaughter, she said.

 

Mosby said Gray sustained fatal neck injuries because he was handcuffed and shackled in the back of a police van without a seatbelt after his arrest on 12 April.

 

“To the people of Baltimore: I heard your call for ‘no justice no peace’,” Mosby said at a Baltimore press conference. Praising young people who had taken to the streets to protest over Gray’s death, she said: “I will seek justice on your behalf.

 

“This is a moment. This is your moment,” said Mosby. “Let’s ensure that we have peaceful and productive rallies that will develop structural and systemic changes for generations to come. You’re at the forefront of this cause. And as young people, our time is now.”

 

Whoops of joy and cries of “justice” were heard from bystanders as Mosby, a 35-year-old African American woman who has been in the job for less than six months, spoke. At an intersection in west Baltimore that has become the base for demonstrations, cars honked their horns and drivers pumped their fists in the air.

 

Officer Caesar Goodson – the driver of the police van – was charged with second-degree murder, while charges including manslaughter, assault, and misconduct in public office were brought against five other officers. Goodson, who has refused to cooperate with investigators, faces up to 30 years in prison.

 

Officer William Porter and Sergeant Alicia D White were charged with manslaughter, assault and misconduct.

 

Lieutenant Brian Rice, Officer Garrett Miller and Officer Edward Nero were charged with manslaughter, assault, misconduct and false imprisonment.

 

All six officers involved were charged, and Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said later that five of the six officers were in custody and that she had ordered police commissioner Anthony Batts to suspend all of them from their jobs. They are expected to be arraigned in court later on Friday.

 

“No one is above the law,” Mosby said.

 

Gray, 25, was arrested after catching the eye of a senior officer and running away. He was placed in the back of a police transportation wagon and was not placed in a seatbelt, as is required under Baltimore police regulations.

 

Past prisoners have suffered serious injuries during so-called “rough rides” in Baltimore vehicles.

 

Mosby said Gray sustained a fatal neck injury while he was handcuffed and shackled inside a police van without a seatbelt.

 

She said Gray’s arrest was illegal, since the knife in his pocket was not a switchblade and so was legal under Maryland law. In any case, the knife was not discovered until after he was arrested, Mosby said.

 

The announcement marked an extraordinary turn in the case, which has led to civil unrest in the city and reinvigorated discussions around poverty, discrimination and injustice suffered by African Americans across the United States.

 

Protests over Gray’s death turned to rioting on Monday, as young people – many of whom accuse Baltimore police of systematic brutality and mistreatment – clashed with officers. Shops were looted and buildings were burned. More than 200 people were arrested.

 

Protesters have been calling for all six officers involved in the arrest to be charged since Gray’s death on 19 April.

 

“This is a turning point in the world. This is a turning point in America,” shouted Jay Morrison of the YMC community coalition, part of the small group of Baltimore residents who assembled to hear Mosby’s announcement.

 

Mosby said she came from five generations of police officers, and that the charges against these six officers should in no way damage the relationship between police and prosecutors in Baltimore.

 

Her announcement came as the city braced for two move waves of protests on Friday and Saturday.

 

Barack Obama said it was “absolutely vital” the truth about what happened to Gray came out.

 

“It is my practice not to comment on the legal processes involved,” the US president said at a press conference. “That would not be appropriate. But I can tell you that justice needs to be served. All the evidence needs to be presented. Those individuals who are charged obviously are also entitled to due process and rule of law.

 

“So I want to make sure that our legal system runs the way it should. The justice department and our new attorney general [Loretta Lynch] is in communications with Baltimore officials to make sure that any assistance we can provide on the investigation is provided.”

 

He added: “What I think the people of Baltimore want more than anything else is the truth. That’s what people around the country expect.”

 

In a brief statement, Rawlings-Blake, the mayor, said: “There will be justice for Mr Gray, there will be justice for his family, and there will be justice for the people of Baltimore,” she said in a brief statement.

 

Rawlings-Blake said she was “sickened and heartbroken” by details of the charges against the officers.

 

“No one in our city is above the law,” she said. “Justice must apply to all of us equally.”

 

The mayor said most police officers served with “honour and distinction”, but said: “To those of you who wish to engage in brutality, misconduct, racism and corruption, let me clear: there is no place in the Baltimore city police department for you.”

 

The decision to charge all six officers caught many by surprise. Baltimore City police had only handed the findings of their own investigation into Gray’s death to Mosby’s office on Thursday.

 

Flanked by members of her own investigative team, Mosby said she decided to press charges after “independently verifying” all facts provided by the police department, and stated: “From day one, I also sent my own investigators to the scene.

 

“What we received from the police department yesterday we already had,” said Mosby.

 

Before her press conference, the Baltimore police officers’ union asked her to appoint a special independent prosecutor for the investigation into Gray’s death.

 

“All death is tragic. And death associated with interaction with police is both shocking and frightening to the public,” Gene Ryan wrote.

 

“As tragic as this situation is, none of the officers involved are responsible for the death of Mr Gray.

To the contrary, at all times, each of the officers diligently balanced the obligations to protect Mr Gray and discharged their duties to protect the public.”

 

Despite claiming full faith in Mosby’s professional integrity, Ryan cited “very deep concerns about the many conflicts of interest presented by your office conducting an investigation in this case”.

 

Ryan specifically called into question Mosby’s personal and professional relationship with the Gray family attorney William Murphy.

 

Murphy was among Mosby’s biggest campaign contributors last year, donating the maximum individual amount allowed, $4,000, in June. He was also on Mosby’s transition team after the election.

 

But after announcing the charges on Friday, Mosby said she would not turn the case over to a special prosecutor.

 

For those outside the steps of the War Memorial Building, where Mosby held her press conference on Friday morning, the decision to prosecute was seen as nothing other than a move for justice and a potential turning point for the city recovering from widespread rioting and looting in the wake of Gray’s death.

 

Additional reporting by Sabrina Siddiqui and Dan Roberts in Washington

 

 

 

Freddie-Gray-headshot-010.jpg

 

Freddie Gray. Photograph: Murphy, Falcon & Murphy

 

 

 

 

CD7WcUoXIAAlTgh.png
 

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/may/01/baltimore-freddie-gray-death

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Officers being sacrificed on the altar of political expediency ! It's readily apparent that Mosby had her mind made up before she got the police report. She's an Eric Holder clone. Da*n !!!!

***///

 

Nailed it ! Spot on !   :twothumbs:

Can't give ya but 1 PLUS+1, so here's a 5-gold star rating for ya !  *****  :salute: 

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Officers being sacrificed on the altar of political expediency ! It's readily apparent that Mosby had her mind made up before she got the police report. She's an Eric Holder clone. Da*n !!!!

wow and here we go like *snap* right on queue.  when there is no truth or evidence to present, the next best tactic is slander.  

 

let me get this straight.  so now the baltimore state attorney is sacrificing officers on the altar of political expediency.  LOL!!!!!   LOL!!!!!!   so let me get this right......marilyn, in an attempt to better her political position and pursue personal career gains, intends to construct it on the lives of innocent police officers.  

 

LOL!!!!!! and on top of all that, ALLLLLL of this is being done to purposely to distract us from the evil and sinister plan of president Obama who is finishing off a scheme to hand the nation over to Iran.   HEEEEEELARIOUSSSSSSS!    whewwwwwww!!!   :jester:

Edited by TrinityeXchange
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Sounds like the attorney for the city was bought and paid for by those wanting to hang the police.  I do not know why anyone today would ever want to be a police officer.  It has to be something like a calling to the ministry where you really cannot do anything else besides be a police officer personally.  Otherwise there is no way I would want to be one in today's democrat lead and socially stupid society.  The cops that want to do good are hung by the same lynch mob that they are trying to prevent.  Personally I truly feel sorry for a good cop today because the media is so that they never have a chance.  They are hung if they do and hung if they do not do something.  In my day you stood by a cop and backed him up.  Now our society abandons them and then whines when bad things happen.  

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Botzwana I could not agree with you more.  They are being sacrificed on the alter of political correctness.  The knife is racism.  The firewood is carried by the minions of the Democrat party.  They never had a chance.

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Are you people seriously defending the cops?

Instead of concentrating on this being a stupid "race" issue and being herded like sheep into the left/right, liberl/conservative, black/white paradigm. How about concentrate on it being a police brutality issue.

Because that's what it is: a police brutality issue. These cops committed a crime. They should be punished. Being defending the cops are being unreasonable and so are the people claiming it's racism.

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Are you people seriously defending the cops?

Instead of concentrating on this being a stupid "race" issue and being herded like sheep into the left/right, liberl/conservative, black/white paradigm. How about concentrate on it being a police brutality issue.

Because that's what it is: a police brutality issue. These cops committed a crime. They should be punished. Being defending the cops are being unreasonable and so are the people claiming it's racism.

 

We don't know what happened.  We weren't there. How about we let the innocent until proven guilty scenario play itself out, before we stick the death needle in these police officers' arms?

 

.

 

.

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Are you people seriously defending the cops?

Instead of concentrating on this being a stupid "race" issue and being herded like sheep into the left/right, liberl/conservative, black/white paradigm. How about concentrate on it being a police brutality issue.

Because that's what it is: a police brutality issue. These cops committed a crime. They should be punished. Being defending the cops are being unreasonable and so are the people claiming it's racism.

 

The guy didn't have a broken neck when he made eye contact with the cop and ran...

 

He had a broken neck when he got to the police station.

 

I will say Rightsonword...had you or I decided to take off "jogging" at that moment...would we have been chased and arrested?

 

 

Markinsa :) I am sure the cops are going to get more "due process" than Freddie Gray did. JMHO

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I know there are some big wigs who post on this site.  I do not know which positions ya'll take.  But regarding the police and the military I think everyone last one of you need to keep in mind that there are a large number of people on here who are present or former military and or present or former law enforcement, or come from homes of military and/or law enforcement.  You insult either of these groups and you insult us.  Any claim or accusation is seen personal and will be responded to in like manner.  To those of you who seem to feel how evil cops are....I hope next time you get robbed you call a junkie. Our families are or have been on the streets protecting people who could not give a rat's left hindquarter if they lived or died.  I dare ya'll to get out on the streets and be a cop reserve for one month.  Most of you who love to complain would not have the courage needed to last one week.

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In another thread, I posted that a BPD Officer stated on TV that Freddie Gray was observed with another individual conducting a small packet exchange (selling or buying drugs), That is why he was chased.  It wasn't just because the police made eye contact with him.  Individuals have been known to swallow the drugs they have in their possession before the police catch up to them.  Freddie Gray's toxicology report came back positive for Heroin and Marijuana.  He was also a known snitch and would frequently act out when he was taken into custody to give the impression he was resisting and the police were harming him.  That's a statement from one Police Office who spoke anonymously on TV.  I will repeat, we don't know what happened.

 

Below are symptoms for Heroin Overdose:

 

Symptoms

Airways and lungs:

Eyes, ears, nose, and throat:

  • Dry mouth
  • Extremely small pupils, sometimes as small as the head of a pin ("pinpoint pupils")
  • Tongue discoloration

Heart and blood:

  • Low blood pressure
  • Weak pulse

Skin:

Stomach and intestines:

Nervous system:

 

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Morning Markinsa

 

 

In another thread, I posted that a BPD Officer stated on TV that Freddie Gray was observed with another individual conducting a small packet exchange (selling or buying drugs), That is why he was chased.  It wasn't just because the police made eye contact with him.  Individuals have been known to swallow the drugs they have in their possession before the police catch up to them.  Freddie Gray's toxicology report came back positive for Heroin and Marijuana.  He was also a known snitch and would frequently act out when he was taken into custody to give the impression he was resisting and the police were harming him.  That's a statement from one Police Office who spoke anonymously on TV.  I will repeat, we don't know what happened.

 

Below are symptoms for Heroin Overdose:

 

Symptoms

Airways and lungs:

Eyes, ears, nose, and throat:

  • Dry mouth
  • Extremely small pupils, sometimes as small as the head of a pin ("pinpoint pupils")
  • Tongue discoloration

Heart and blood:

  • Low blood pressure
  • Weak pulse

Skin:

Stomach and intestines:

Nervous system:

 

 

Does a heroin overdose give you a broken neck? I didn't see it listed here.

 

Please stop conjecturing/speculating...the truth will come out on this one...hopefully.

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Rightsonword I do agree with you about this being a "rights" issue for all of us and it is getting derailed into a righty/lefty issue...

 

Seriously!!!

Exactly, Maggie!

People are so quick to defend cops no matter what as if all cops are saints: they're not. Since January, multiple cops have been indicted on murder charges for just about executing suspects. This story reeks of police brutality, unless you want to believe that a guy can so easily break his own neck.

I don't believe there was any racism invovled by the cops considering three of them were black, but there definitely is a hint of racism by some who are critical of the residents of baltimore.

Edited by rightsonword
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Exactly, Maggie!

People are so quick to defend cops no matter what as if all cops are saints: they're not. Since January, multiple cops have been indicted on murder charges for just about executing suspects. This story reeks of police brutality, unless you want to believe that a guy can so easily break his own neck.

I don't believe there was any racism invovled by the cops considering three of them were black, but there definitely is a hint of racism by some who are critical of the residents of baltimore.

 

A voice of reason...refreshing!! Yes it has seemed to bring out the worst in some people...uggggg.

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Some of you who seem to love to judge the cops and take them to task need to get your butts out in the streets.  See just how long you last.  See how you like being spit on and egged just because you are trying to protect ungrateful masses.  See just how long you last watching your fellow brothers and sisters murdered simply because they thought they could make a different and put on a badge.  Some of you do not deserve ONE life that has been lost by an officer defending your ungratful butts.


My brothers were out there day in and day out.  You bet I am angry.  You ungrateful masses.  I wonder just how many of you watched with glee the officer gunned down in NY.  

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Exactly, Maggie!

People are so quick to defend cops no matter what as if all cops are saints: they're not. Since January, multiple cops have been indicted on murder charges for just about executing suspects. This story reeks of police brutality, unless you want to believe that a guy can so easily break his own neck.

I don't believe there was any racism invovled by the cops considering three of them were black, but there definitely is a hint of racism by some who are critical of the residents of baltimore.

 

 

A voice of reason...refreshing!! Yes it has seemed to bring out the worst in some people...uggggg.

 

Oh hell, let's just line'em up and shoot them and get it over with.  They're guilty! We all know it was premeditated.  We all know exactly what happened. They were planning this for weeks! The police followed him from his home, and staged the whole thing.  Damn evil cops.  There is no possible way any of these six police officers are innocent.  There is no possible way that the police may have unintentionally and unknowingly fractured Freddie's neck when they were attempting to take him into custody. They just wanted to get rid of one more black kid of the streets to keep him from reproducing.

 

 

.

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It is interesting how there can be a cop who has dedicated his or her life to helping others and possibly have saved unknown lives of all races get murdered on the streets and an ungrateful society shows their true colors by being quiet.  Yet a thug with a rap sheet longer than they are tall can die in police custody and a politically correct morally inverted world goes totally insane.  

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The support of criminals from the lawlessness of the left, so rears its ugly head in this thread, from the usual tools of satan.

Tell me about it. Supporting police brutality is never a cool thing. :shrug:

 

Some of you who seem to love to judge the cops and take them to task need to get your butts out in the streets.  See just how long you last.  See how you like being spit on and egged just because you are trying to protect ungrateful masses.  See just how long you last watching your fellow brothers and sisters murdered simply because they thought they could make a different and put on a badge.  Some of you do not deserve ONE life that has been lost by an officer defending your ungratful butts.

My brothers were out there day in and day out.  You bet I am angry.  You ungrateful masses.  I wonder just how many of you watched with glee the officer gunned down in NY.  

What are you even talking about. Who in this thread is judging all cops or saying they're useless or all corrupt?

Police brutality is police brutality and it does exist, regardless if you believe it or not. Are you saying all cops are wonderful people?

I honestly don't care if your brother is a cop or not. If he is a good, law abiding, no abusive cop, prayers out to him. If he misses any of these qualities, he's scum and should be stripped of his badge. Same with any citizen, cop or not.

 

 

 

 

 

Oh hell, let's just line'em up and shoot them and get it over with.  They're guilty! We all know it was premeditated.  We all know exactly what happened. They were planning this for weeks! The police followed him from his home, and staged the whole thing.  Damn evil cops.  There is no possible way any of these six police officers are innocent.  There is no possible way that the police may have unintentionally and unknowingly fractured Freddie's neck when they were attempting to take him into custody. They just wanted to get rid of one more black kid of the streets to keep him from reproducing.

 

 

.

 

Sarcasm, eh? Are you one of those that believes police brutality doesn't happen? Obviously the legal process needs to take it's course, but from the evidence presented thus far, Gray died due to injuries sustained from some type of police abuse, whether from a rough riding paddy ride or other means. Unless you deny that as well . . .

Edited by rightsonword
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Tell me about it. Supporting police brutality is never a cool thing. :shrug:

 

lol, what are you even talking about. Who in this thread is judging all cops or saying they're useless or all corrupt?

Police brutality is police brutality and it does exist, regardless if you believe it or not. Are you saying all cops are wonderful people?

I honestly don't care if your brother is a cop or not. If he is a good, law abiding, no abusive cop, prayers out to him. If he misses any of these qualities, he's scum and should be stripped of his badge. Same with any citizen, cop or not.

 

lol, what? Are you one of those that believes police brutality doesn't happen? Obviously the legal process needs to take it's course, but from the evidence presented thus far, Gray died due to injuries sustained from some type of police abuse, whether from a rough riding paddy ride or other means. Unless you deny that as well . . .

YOU don't know that.   That's the problem with your perspective, hence your "argument".  It's not at the point of even being able to deny!  YOU are prejudging the case as factual, based on nothing but media attention.

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right...I know there are bad cops.  I was marked by one but because I had a public position in the town I was safe but I was disturbing their drug and sexual cover up thing.  I know there are bad cops.  Don't even go there.  You act like these cops are all guilty but you also were haveing a small heart attack at the idea that these poor little thugs might be misjudged.  I am sick of the double standard one for the cop and one for the good for nothing thug who is trying to burn people alive like that pizza owner in Baltimore.  When was the last time you got off your stinking high horse and went over to a cop and thank him for the risk he takes every day for your miserable hide?


right...I dare you to put on the badge as a reserve but I truly do not believe you would survive..

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