Finally...
Six Baltimore police officers have been charged with several counts, including one who was charged with second-degree murder, in the high-profile death of Freddie Gray, who died from injuries suffered in police custody, State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby said Friday.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said five of the six officers are in custody. Arrest warrants were issued for all six officers, including a lieutenant and a sergeant. Gray suffered a spinal injury after he was arrested April 12 and died after riding in a police transport van that made several stops.
The charges against some of the officers include involuntary manslaughter, assault, failure to render aid and other counts.“I assured his family that no one is above the law, and I would pursue justice on their behalf,” Mosby said.
At a morning news conference, Mosby said Gray’s death has been ruled a homicide. As she gave details of the charges and how Gray was treated in the van ride, helicopters swirled overhead and people in the crowd strained to hear her above the traffic passing by.
The prosecutor also said the arrest of the 25-year-old was unwarranted; that a pocket knife found on him was closed and legal.Mosby said officers ignored his pleas for medical help at the time of his arrest and during his ride in a transport van, even when he said he could not breathe. She said Gray requested an inhaler during the van ride and that he began to flail and was held “against his will.”
Officers did not secure him in a seat belt in the van, where he was injured, she said.
“Mr Gray suffered a severe and critical neck injury as a result of being handcuffed, shackled by his feet and unrestrained inside the Baltimore Police Department wagon,” Mosby said. After being shackled, she said, Gray was placed on his stomach, head first onto the floor of the police wagon.
She said Gray had a knife on him at the time of the incident, but that it was not a switchblade. She said the knife was “lawful under Maryland law.” Officers “failed to establish probable cause for his arrest as no crime had been committed” Mosby said.
Officers “illegally arrested Mr. Gray,” she said.
She also expressed her sympathies to the Gray family and said she had meet with them, assuring them would seek justice in the case. She said her office has worked 12- and 14-hour days in advance of Friday’s announcement.
The defendants in the Gray case include officers Caesar R. Goodson Jr., William G. Porter, Edward M. Nero, Garrett E. Miller, Sgt. Alicia D. White and Lt. Brian W. Rice. Goodson, who was the driver of the van, is charged with the most serious crime, second-degree depraved heart murder. The charge of second-degree depraved heart murder essentially means that a suspect held a reckless disregard for another person’s life, according to legal experts.
“To know that you’re being treated worse than an animal is one of the worst things in the world, so after that, you realize you don’t really have anything to lose,” Dawson said, over the honks of cars apparently celebrating the announcement.
City officials have said they are prepared for protests and rallies Friday that are expected to be held throughout the day. A curfew that runs from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. will remain in effect throughout the weekend.
(source)
ForeverMeah says...
