TGLT posted:

Given how the police have tried to manipulate testimony and perceptions in their favor I have to wonder if this is going to actually lead to changes for the Baltimore police department as a whole, or if they're just going to write them off as bad apples and roll on. I mean, their cover story has collapsed so fast and so publicly that they really can't dodge at least the charges, but I'm still not sure if anything actually changes because of it. It's not the first time they killed a guy like this.


Here's an NPR article with some details about the charges and why they went with them.

STAC Goat posted:

I know nothing about legal matters but I assume that the litany of charges increases the odds that they all get found guilty of something. Like the driver was charged with second degree murder but he was also charged with like half a dozen other crimes so even if he somehow gets off on the murder he can get nailed on the other stuff.

Good Citizen posted:

Charges filed means no grand jury and straight to a real trial right?

moller posted:

Area Man Passionate Defender Of What He Imagines Constitution To Be

Biblical literalists wear blended fabrics and sneer at the poor. Small Government proponents love the Pentagon.

Radish posted:

Sounds like this prosecutor is sincere which is a great thing.

Agrajag posted:

Lets hope this doesn't turn out to be like The Trayvon Martin trial.

quote:

BREAKING: Police union: 6 officers aren't responsible for Freddie Gray's death, were diligent in case.

Arkane posted:

How dare you charge these heroes?

I got the police union as the most dangerous gang in the US, narrowly edging out MS-13

quote:

@AdamSerwer:
Some perspective on how big a deal this is: Cleveland has not finished its investigation in to the November 2014 shooting of Tamir Rice

FuriousxGeorge posted:

Arkane posted:

How dare you charge these heroes?

I got the police union as the most dangerous gang in the US, narrowly edging out MS-13

quote:

Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 President Gene Ryan made the comment Friday 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."

quote:

"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."

hallebarrysoetoro posted:

I mean I know unions need to go to bat for their own but holy poo poo they straight up had a guy die in custody on an arrest that seems to pretty clearly be illegal, even if he somehow did it to himself or whatever, he died due to circumstances stemming from a bullshit arrest

hallebarrysoetoro posted:

I mean I know unions need to go to bat for their own but holy poo poo they straight up had a guy die in custody on an arrest that seems to pretty clearly be illegal, even if he somehow did it to himself or whatever, he died due to circumstances stemming from a bullshit arrest

STAC Goat posted:

The Fox cop analyst basically argued that cops always ignore suspects when they say they're hurt because they're usually lying, so you know, why's this one such a big deal?

It really seems like cop culture has this twisted childish mindset that they always arrest people unjustly, break safety rules to make their ride more uncomfortable, and ignore their cries for help and they never get in trouble so it's wrong for them to be held accountable now.

sugar free jazz posted:

“And they’re trying to make it seem like I told them that, I made it like Freddie Gray did that to himself,” Allen said. “Why the gently caress would he do that to himself ?”

quote:

Invoking Martin Luther King Jr.’s aphorism that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” and while imploring all to “look at Ferguson, New York, and Cleveland,” where unarmed African-American men were killed by police acting with impunity, Mosby said, “every part of the government, especially the criminal-justice system, needs to be on the same page.” People “cannot and should not be led to believe,” she proclaimed, “that justice is accessible to some and not to all.” Noting that “the trust between our community and law enforcement is diminishing,” she declared that “the time to repair that trust, to come together . . . is now.”

Retail Slave posted:

Glad they're getting charged, but if there are no convictions Baltimore is going to burn the gently caress down.

Zwabu posted:

Please link where this came from.

I'm pretty loving interested in this particular sleazy little corner of the story. Now that the police have released what they have to the State, I'm curious how the leaked third hand "witness thinks he was bashing himself against the car" story actually reads in the report, or whether it even exists at all.

I was envisioning something on the order of:

"Heard him bumping against the walls of the van"

"Would you say it was possible that he was doing it to himself?"

"Well I guess anything's possible, but.."

"Thanks that's plenty!"

*Leaks report to WaPo that anonymous witness felt Gray might have been trying to harm himself, WaPo eagerly publishes, triumphantly trumpeted on right wing Facebook pages and shows nationwide*

quote:

Investigators have said Gray and the other prisoner were separated by a wall and never saw each other. But the testimony of the second prisoner has become crucial in piecing together the circumstances of Gray’s death. Baltimore city officials have maintained it is likely Gray sustained his injuries inside the van.

On Thursday, a leaked police document, reported by the Washington Post, stated that the second prisoner believed Gray “was intentionally trying to injure himself” by “banging against the walls”. But Allen, interviewed by CBS Baltimore, denied saying this.

“And they’re trying to make it seem like I told them that, I made it like Freddie Gray did that to himself,” Allen said. “Why the gently caress would he do that to himself ?”

In another interview with WBAL TV, Allan said that when he was placed in the van he didn’t hear anything and described the journey to the Western District police station as a smooth ride. “All I heard was a little banging for about four seconds,” Allen said.

Asked again if he had heard Gray banging his head against the van, Allen responded ambiguously: “I told homicide that. I don’t work for the police. I did not tell the police nothing.”

WhiskeyJuvenile posted:

Mosby is relatively new in the job as a state's attorney, elected last year. At her inauguration:

quote:

The Baltimore police officers union is asking State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby to appoint a special independent prosecutor for the Freddie Gray death investigation.

Zwabu posted:

I wonder if any conversations are going on in the various police departments around the country to the effect of "hey dumbshits, cell phone cameras exist, they are a thing, they are not going away and we need to clean and tighten our poo poo up."

Zwabu posted:

I wonder if any conversations are going on in the various police departments around the country to the effect of "hey dumbshits, cell phone cameras exist, they are a thing, they are not going away and we need to clean and tighten our poo poo up."

Vahakyla posted:

South Carolina State House is up with a bill prohibiting arrest of people filming police for any "harassment or interference" related arrests, so we got that going, too.

paranoid randroid posted:

SC is clowning pretty much the entire country right now and that is hosed up.