Meghan Keneally reports for ABC News, May 1, 2015, that the medical examiner’s office ruled that the death of Freddie Gray was a homicide caused by severe trauma.
Gray, 25, was taken into police custody in Baltimore April 12 and sustained a spinal injury during that time requiring medical attention. He went into a coma several days later and died a week after his apprehension. Police have never said why they took him into custody, noting only that he ran from officers, and they have not publicly explained how Gray received the spinal injury.
State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, the chief prosecutor for Baltimore, announced this morning that her office has also found probable cause to pursue criminal charges in connection to the case. All six of the police officers are now in custody.
Mosby announced a series of charges facing the six police officers involved in putting Gray in custody and transporting him in the police van on the morning of April 12. The charges vary for each individual, but include several counts of manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office and false imprisonment, among others. The most serious charge she listed was second-degree depraved heart murder, which only one officer faces.
Mosby detailed the findings of her office’s independent investigation into Gray’s apprehension:
- How officers are alleged to have repeatedly ignored Gray’s pleas for help.
- Officers allegedly bound Gray’s arms behind his back and put his legs in clamps but did not secure him within the police wagon with a seat belt, which is a violation of Baltimore police policy.
- The decision to take Gray into custody in the first place was unwarranted because the knife that he had is allowed under Baltimore laws. While the knife was able to fold, it was not a switchblade.
Mosby urged calm in the wake of the charges, speaking directly to protesters at the end of her news conference, “I heard your call for ‘no justice, no peace.’ However your peace is sincerely needed as I work to deliver justice on behalf of Freddie Gray.”
Michael Davey, the attorney hired by one of the officers, spoke on behalf of all six during a news conference this afternoon with the police union, saying “these officers will be vindicated because they have done nothing wrong. No officer injured Mr. Gray, caused harm to Mr. Gray, and [they] are truly saddened by his death.”
In an open letter today before Mosby’s news conference, the Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police asked Mosby to appoint a special independent prosecutor:
“I have full faith in your professional integrity. While I have the utmost respect for you and your office, I have very deep concerns about the many conflicts of interest presented by your office conducting an investigation in this case. These conflicts include your personal and professional relationship with Gray family attorney, William Murphy and the lead prosecutor’s connections with members of the local media.”
The U.S. Attorney General’s office is in communication with authorities in Baltimore.
See also:
- Who is Freddie Gray?
- Defenders of Baltimore Race Riots
- A movie becomes real: Baltimore race riots understood mayor’s words as permission to Purge
- Sup? Sapnin? (on Baltimore race riots)
- Allen West: Baltimore is not an American failure. Baltimore is a DEMOCRAT failure
- Wayne Allyn Root on Black America
~Éowyn