This didn’t just happen because people peaceably protested.
Officer Caesar Goodson Jr., 45, who was the driver of a police van that carried Gray through the streets of Baltimore, was charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, second-degree assault, two vehicular manslaughter charges and misconduct in office.
Officer William Porter, 25, was charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault and misconduct in office.
Lt. Brian Rice, 41, was charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault and misconduct in office.
Sgt. Alicia White, 30, was charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault and misconduct in office.
Officer Edward Nero, 29, was charged with second-degree assault and misconduct in office.
Officer Garrett Miller, 26, was charged with second-degree assault, misconduct in office and false imprisonment.
If convicted of all charges, Goodson would face up to 63 years in prison. Rice would face up to 30 years and Porter, Nero, Miller and White would face up to 20 years.
Warrants were issued for the arrest of all six officers. It wasn’t immediately clear where the officers were Friday morning.
When rioting becomes an effective way to get justice, the system has already been failing for a long time.
It might be a little bit off to say the rioting is what caused this. There had to be autopsy reports, etc., prior to bring charges. That report was just finalized yesterday.
This prosecutor sounded really ticked off at the cops. And looking at the laundry list of charges, this has been in the works for several days. She wanted to make sure she had everything lined up before the charges were formailzed.
The riots may have impacted timing to some degree, but in this case, I actually think this would have happened anyway.
I’m not easily impressed by official statements by public officials, but Marilyn Mosby knocked my socks off on every level. The authenticity, poise, and competence she displayed in reading the official statement remained during the question and answer period. She totally made me trust and believe that she will do everything in her power to do the right thing.
Now, if she can get CVS to reopen the store, she will be a miracle worker indeed.
Nick? You’re back. Nick Danger, ladies and gentlemen.
dataguy is the same dataguy that has been around here for nearly a decade.
Bullshit.
No attention, no mop-up.
Bet on it.
Baltimore has been a racist cesspool for well over 150 years.
Bet on that as well.
Only the threat of national attention has gotten this done, and it’s just a cleanup job anyway. Systemic reform? Not until the Permanent Government no longer needs a permanently uneducated class to do its dirty work. And when that happens? I dunno. Too many people, not even as many jobs as there are now. It’s going to get worse as the robots come even more online. Not better.
Sorry, but there it is.
Dream on if you must. Sometimes I think that’s better than confronting this problem full-face.
And…have a nice day.
AG
“But on Tuesday, speaking to Laura Ingraham, the conservative radio host and author, (Senator Paul’s) tone was strikingly different. “I am very sympathetic to the plight of the police in this,” he said, adding that “justice has to come” from the investigation into the death of Freddie Gray, the young black man who died of injuries suffered while in the custody of the Baltimore police.
Then Mr. Paul said he had just come through Baltimore on the train. “I’m glad it didn’t stop,” he laughed.”
He’s a politician. He fucked up. He’ll pay for it. So it goes. None of them speak the unvarnished truth. None who are highly successful, anyway. Bet on it. It’s just a huge power game. Some are born with the proper chops, others need to develop them. Paul needs work. Will he win? As I have said here many times, i doubt it. Would it be interesting if he did? OH yes!!! The last two standing get to play in the final fix. Bush/Clinton? Again!!!??? Please.
AG
Arthur never, ever seems to get tired of fucking that chicken:
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/29/hillary-clinton-criminal-justice-overhaul-baltimore-u
nrest
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/jeb-bush-empty-baltimore-stadium-sends-the-wrong-signal
But, since AG is interested in enabling the radical conservative movement, no wonder he wants to pretend that there are no policy differences between Bush and Clinton.
The reason that there have been delays in charging the cops is because across the country laws have been written to protect cops from cooperating with police investigations if there is guilt present. I saw it in the Fruitvale Station BART murder and many others. Often cops involved in misconduct are given a week or two to get their stories straight before being required to make an official report.
It didn’t happen in South Carolina only because a bystander filmed that black man’s execution, which, of course, is why it’s being made against the law in many states to film cops in action.
But the picture is bigger, and while race is a determining factor, there is a greater overall strategy to what is happening. The US has evolved into a fully fascist country. Abusive treatment of the poor and powerful is probably the most recognizable feature of our government. As the separation of wealth and power progresses it requires more violence to suppress the hoi polloi. Police as such aren’t protecting and serving the average citizen, they are protecting the rich and powerful. Less law, more order.
That’s why we have this recent scandal of cops protecting drug operations. Peter Dale Scott, in his book Deep Politics, does a nice job of explaining the dilemma that cops in Texas faced with illegal drug trafficking back in the post-WWII era. It was too hard to stop all drug smuggling, so the best way for law enforcement to handle the problem is to let “friends” go ahead and bring in their product (friends meaning anything from political connections to outright bribes). In return, often law enforcement receives tips from its “friends” to shut down competition.
Essentially, after WWII there has been an organized corruption of law enforcement due to various prohibitions. Law enforcement, because of its delicate position in society in having the legal ability to use force against the citizenry, is always in danger of being corrupted. But local law enforcement is merely following various federal levels of criminality. The FBI lies, maybe kills troublesome narrators in opposition to the politically correct position. The CIA is essentially a lawless organization which operates on a worldwide basis, for the benefit of the wealthiest class of Americans.
I thought you were going in a different direction. Like, this happened because people in Baltimore voted in November for Marilyn Mosby instead of the incumbent.
Don’t discount the power of the vote. Especially when candidates like Mosby are running. They got a good one in Baltimore.
Candidates like Mosby are rare. Rarer still is when one manages to get elected, they don’t quickly sell out.
Also want to mention that the indictments suggest that she is fully aware that the “blue line” was operating in this case and her team couldn’t pierce the silence and cover stories.
Yes, but. When it does happen it’s an encouragement for the next one. She should win a great deal of admiration along with plenty of hatred from the fascists. Maybe it could even get to be fashionable!
It’s amazing that after being battered for decades and seeing the frequency with which the bad ones are rewarded that there are any decent and competent public employees and public officials left.
Structurally, cops and politicians were the most resistant to 20th century goo-goo efforts because they started out withe the most entrenched cultures of bribery, corruption, and substance abuse.
They need to have independent prosecuters in all these types of cases. The district attorneys work hand-in-glove with the police all the time. They depend on each other. Then to have to turn around and try to prosecute the same people you worked with without a conflict is impossible. I’m guessing the attorney in Baltimore was able to do this because she was new. I wonder how this will affect her working relationship with the police from now on?
Prosecutors with a healthy “Don’t feed me bullshit” adversarial relationship to the police get more solid convictions and lower the crime rate. Enough of that and it becomes noticeable.
Too often police want to make doubly sure that that sort of reform doesn’t get going because of the side businesses that individual police officers and even units of the police department are engaged in.
As Mosby pointed out in either her prepared statement or the Q&A, there is no accountability with special prosecutors. Voters can toss her out of office if she doesn’t perform her duties at a level acceptable to the public. What happened to Ken Starr when he went on his witchhunt that wasn’t within the scope of his engagement? Nothing. OTOH, when TBTB don’t like where a legitimate investigation is leading, we end up in Saturday Night Massacre territory.
Agree that the current state of laws and enforcement leave much to be desired and believe that we can do better. However, it’s too simplistic and expensive to require a special prosecutor based on a few instances where it seemed clear that the local prosecutor failed in his/her duty.
Little effective accountability with the elected ones, either. A weakness in checks and balances that is weighted against the defendant. The FBI lab scandal points it out even more clearly. Perverse incentives of common law criminal procedure.
yes…the protests made a difference.
but, it was a willing prosecutor
So, you are contending that the riot, burning of stores and houses, was a necessary precondition to the indictment?
Well, that’s a huge pile of shit, honestly. If you believe that this is true, the entire justice system is damaged beyond recovery. I do not believe that.
A cynical, disturbing, and basicly cheap-ass shot of a blog-post. I’ve lost respect for you, Boo.
Note also that an indictment is not a conviction, and these guys may not be convicted.
‘When rioting becomes an effective way to get justice, the system has already been failing for a long time.’
How do you conclude, which you seem to do or at least strongly suggest, that rioting has produced justice. Maybe this would have happened without the riots. Could the system now be working a bit better? Or do you preface the statement with ‘when’ because you don’t know if the rioting was instrumental. ‘When’ as in ‘if’. And so what if the system has been failing for a long time. That doesn’t mean that this turn might be an improvement. You sound almost disappointed.
That was Booman’s contention. His original contention was that the indictments would not have happened without the riots. Irresponsible, really.
Yes, I was commenting on Booman but incorrectly replied to your comment. Yes, disappointing of him.
“If you believe that this is true, the entire justice system is damaged beyond recovery. I do not believe that.”
I’m sure there are plenty of things that you “do not believe” that are true nonetheless.
You need to make a better case than that.
What I saw happening was the police trying to turn the nonviolent protests to violence through provocation. As the protests got larger, newer and younger people started participating and on Sunday a few of them popped off (if you dismiss the possibility of plea-bargaining provocateurs creating some photogenic violence).
On Monday, that became the excuse for upping the armament of the police to riot gear, the fabrication of threat stories, and all those resulted in the chaos of decision-making that let school out and shut down buses at the same time, funneling a large number of kids into the Mondawmin Mall area, where police attempts at kettling triggered a riot and looting (mission accomplished?). And that riot trigger revenge arson on CVS and a payday loan office — and other unknown commercial offices in the city.
That became the excuse for the state of emergency that removes protesters from the streets. Unfortunately in the politics of the situation, it also became the excuse for calling out the Maryland National Guard, the governor trolling the mayor, the mayor calling all involved (protesters and rioters alike) thugs, and the casting of a right-wing narrative in the media.
Politically for Democrats in the city and national administrations, the only way to reel this back in was to announce the charges sooner rather than later.
The autopsy is not complete and Officer #1 (the driver) refuses to make any statement under the protections of the Fifth Amendment. That sets up easily argued cases on both sides. Will the governor, the prosecutor herself (doubtful at this point), or the judge press on the scales of justice to deliver impunity once again?
Seven months after Michael Brown and going into the summer, failure to deliver justice is playing with fire. The number in the streets in the cities in solidarity with Baltimore have been growing with each successive demonstration after each further killing. The NYPD are depending primarily on people’s good order as it is right now. The Sheriff of Milwaukee County is so worried that he’s trying to recruit vigilantes. Any attempt by the police or homeland security hardliners is likely to backfire badly.
And the NRA is ready with the gasoline.
Dicey times. Like 1938 and 1965 all over again. River Rouge and the Southern Textile Worker Strike for FDR, this for Obama. And the hot spots are New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Oakland, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Atlanta and suburban ring departments around any city grifting on fines and court penalties.
I’ll say this, Tarheel, you more often than not bring a different take to the conversation and make me begin to think about causes and effects I wouldn’t have done on my own and connect dots that I would never have otherwise thought to connect.
As in
Somewhere else I read, maybe here, maybe at BJ, maybe at DKOS, is that the one thing we haven’t heard from the right during the Freddy Gray/Baltimore events is promoting more access by African Americans to guns, so that they (the latter) could protect themselves and push back against the oppressor authorities, i.e. the police. No standing up for AA’s 2nd Amendment rights, No, siree!!
NYPD got their riot–they had been wishing for an excuse since their tantrums were exposed.
how they engineered the violence – very interesting.
heard on a radio discussion today that Baltimore has something like 10 times the murder rate of NY.
In about 3 weeks there will be millions of unemployed high school and college students with nothing better to do than disrupt any space in the country they choose. It ain’t over…as it will become apparent the riot only got justice for one man.
well, let’s see. African American mayor, African American prosecutor, events transpire symptomatic of a deeper problem, events are addressed head on. How about the deeper problems? we’ll see, but frankly, I’m more optimistic than pessimistic
I wouldn’t say that this riot alone affected change, but I absolutely believe that the ongoing restlessness of the last couple of years has been influential. Black America is thoroughly ignored in this society until it becomes violent. And without attention to the problem, nothing changes. I wish it wasn’t this way, but I absolutely believe the riots have been important in getting to this point.
Black America has not become violent. The police became violent and some individuals, the arrests have been of young black men, popped off and responded in anger.
It is the white fear of black violence that has magnified what actually happened just as it did in 1831, when Nat Turner’s small band killed around 65 people and white fear across the South resulted in over 300 lynchings, some far away from Jerusalem, Virginia.
To see the mainstream media, all of Baltimore was on fire, with Francis Scott Key squirrelled away with the reporter in the refuge of a boat.
Most on target on this so far is Ta-Nehisi Coates. He grew up in West Baltimore and know the underlying layer of violence that exists there all the time.
Great writing throughout this thread, TarheelDem.
Ta-Nehisi Coates is the great journalist of this time in our nation’s history. And I’m not just talking about his responses to the recent spate of notorious murders of low-income people from minority communities by “peace officers”.
This amazingly persuasive and deeply informative journalistic essay, for example, deserves all the plaudits it has received:
http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/05/the-case-for-reparations/361631/
Most of us on the Frog Pond have read this, but another reading is particularly powerful in the light of all that has happened in the year since Coles got this published.
Images of 6 officers charged: 3 Black officers, 3 white officers…how will the racist police officer apologist supporters chose who to support?
Baltimore reacts after officers charged | Maryland News – WBAL Home http://www.wbaltv.com/news/32705712 via @wbaltv11e
Ooooh, ooooh, I know the answer, I know the answer!!
The officers are being railroaded by the racist State’s Attorney:
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/this-is-a-war-on-police-twitter-conservatives-lash-out-at-racist-ind
ictments-of-baltimore-cops/
And some clown at the Internet sewer overseen by Tucker Carlson needs to let us know in the smarmiest way possible that he finds the racist State’s Attorney sexually attractive:
http://dailycaller.com/2015/05/01/lets-be-honest-marilyn-mosby-the-baltimore-state-attorney-is-kind-
of-a-smokeshow-photos/
“…Throughout the presser, the 35-year-old prosecutor managed to maintain a fiery, authoritative demeanor AND flashed some serious “crazy girl” eyes, a combination which — if truth be told — I found incredibly sexy.”
But, credit where credit’s due, a writer at Red State who has been telling his wingnut audience that many recent incidents of killings by police are indefensible actually gets a group of commenters who agree with him, by and large:
http://www.redstate.com/2015/05/01/baltimore-cops-charged-freddie-gray-death/
My take is that the three LEOs that apprehended Gray recognized that he could have been seriously injured as a result of an action by one or two of them. Making him or them vulnerable to a charge of excessive force. Upon confirming that there was no skin break and blood, they took a chance that they were the only witnesses to the injury event. Shove him into the van, and if a serious injury were discovered later, it would be chalked up to another paddy wagon injury incident and any charges against LEOs for it would be minor. Violating SOP to secure the seatbelt on a suspect hadn’t been treated harshly in the past.
If I’m correct, there was no “rough ride.” Goodson quickly suspected that Gray had been seriously injured. But not many LEOs in that situation would call for a medic/ambulance. That would be ratting out his colleagues and the risk for doing that is high. His only hope/chance was that Gray wasn’t injured.
There is gossip that it was personal, too. The Wire dude is open to that possibility.
or seemed open to it…
What is the narrative if it was personal? Who was the target and who were the culprits?
I looked through some links I bookmarked and could not find that remark. I will have to make a more thorough search. It was not a direct statement of personally known fact, but of gossip reported by a purported local. But for now I will have to retract my post, until I can substantiate it with the link.
Thanks. Drives me nuts when that happens.
yeah right like this is ever gonna happen:
The Freddie Gray Case Should Be A Warning To Reporters Who Print Unfounded Police Leaks http://thkpr.gs/3653821 via @thinkprogress
Would like to see Rolling Stone go after WaPo for publishing that false story as hot and heavy as WaPo went after RS for the VA false rape story.
Rioting has always been an effective way to change official conduct.
Especially when officialdom is unwilling or unable to put it down.
Still, this time the resulting changes might be for the better.
Even if all this does is force police to abandon their casual negligence regarding the lives and safety of their prisoners, that will be a real win of considerable value.
A short video from Jeremy Scahill.
Interesting to me that they elected Marilyn Mosby last Nov, the same election that elsewhere dems didn;t turn out. seems like a comment on candidates running on what dem voters care about