Police union says Baltimore cops not guilty
Print Edition
THE Baltimore police officers union says the six officers charged in the Freddie Gray investigation aren’t responsible for the black man’s death.
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 President Gene Ryan made the comment yesterday in a letter to Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby before she announced the charges. It was the union’s strongest statement to date in the officers’ defense.
“As tragic as this situation is, none of the officers involved are responsible for the death of Mr Gray,” Ryan wrote. “To the contrary, at all times, each of the officers diligently balanced their obligations to protect Mr Gray and discharge their duties to protect the public.”
Ryan asked Mosby in the letter to appoint a special independent prosecutor. But after announcing charges yesterday, Mosby said she would not turn the case over to a special prosecutor.
Mosby revealed that Gray, who died a week after his April 12 arrest, was in handcuffs but otherwise was not restrained inside the van. The officers failed to provide medical attention to Gray even though he asked for help on at least two occasions.
Gray’s death has become the latest flashpoint in a national outcry over the treatment of African-Americans and other minorities by law enforcement.
After a night of rioting in Baltimore on Monday, protests spread to other major cities in a reprise of demonstrations last year set off by police killings of unarmed black men in Ferguson, Missouri, New York and elsewhere.
Warrants have been issued for the arrest of the officers charged, Mosby said at a news conference in front of a city office building across from Baltimore City Hall. In addition to murder and manslaughter, charges include assault, misconduct and false imprisonment.
“We put all our resources to make sure we were pursuing and leading where the facts took us in this case, which was to pursue justice,” Mosby said, a day after the Baltimore Police Department turned over findings from its internal investigation.
Mosby said the Maryland chief medical examiner ruled Gray’s death a homicide. The 25-year-old Gray was no longer breathing when he was finally removed from the van. Mosby, a 35-year-old African-American who took office in January, is facing the biggest test of her short career in deciding to bring charges against the officers.
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