May 26, 2015
Gray suffered a critical spinal injury on April 12th after police handcuffed and threw him head-first into a van, while his pleas for medical attention were repeatedly ignored. His death at the hands of police spawned violent protests and looting and became a symbol of what protesters called a pattern of police brutality against African-Americans in Baltimore.
Officers Edward Nero and Garrett Miller were indicted on second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office for “failure to perform a duty regarding the safety of a prisoner” and for an illegal arrest, Mosby said. Officer Caesar Goodson, who drove the van, was indicted for manslaughter and a second-degree “depraved heart” murder charge, as well as misconduct in office and second-degree assault. Sgt. Alicia White, Lt. Brian Rice and Officer William Porter were each charged with manslaughter, second-degree assault and misconduct in office. Those officers also face reckless-endangerment charges.
Officers Nero, Miller and Rice are white; Goodson, Porter and White are black.
The Rev. Cortly “C.D.” Witherspoon, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Baltimore chapter, applauded the grand jury’s decision while admitting he was surprised by the indictments.
“The track record of this city and state’s attorney’s office and even the grand jury in Baltimore is not to indict in these type cases,” he said.
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“We ain’t worried about the indictment. We want a conviction,” said 44-year-old Baltimore resident Michael Banks.
Equal-justice advocate Noche Diaz, who said he moved to Baltimore from New York to join the protests, called the indictment “only a first step.”
“The only thing that got the charges in the first place was when people rose up and then more people around the country stood up,” he said. “There’s going to be a need to continue and renew that fight.”
Attorneys for the officers have claimed in court documents they are the victims of an “overzealous prosecution” riddled with personal and political conflicts of interest. They said at a minimum, Mosby should be replaced with an independent prosecutor because she had a personal interest in calming unrest in the city that followed Gray’s death and because her husband is a city councilman who represents the areas most impacted by upheaval.
As has been echoed by many in the Black community…. Getting indictments are one thing…getting convictions are another thing altogether. Given how much faith I've lost the American Justice System, particularly related to how the value of Black lives (especially the lives of Black males) are reduced to less than that of a common animal, I can only pray that THIS time, at least ONE of these cretins will be held accountable in a Court of Law and that Justice will indeed be served. In the meantime, I no longer trust that most cops are "good" cops. Personally, the more that I hear/learn about the prevalence of bad cops running rampant across America, I'm inclined to believe that most cops, from the highest positions to the lowest rookie, are more apt to be very dangerous people, filled with Hate and probably more than a litle psychopathic. Let me go a… Read more »