Rage turned to relief in Baltimore on Friday when the city's top
prosecutor charged six police officers with felonies ranging from
assault to murder in the death of Freddie Gray.State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby said Gray's arrest was illegal and
unjustified, and that his neck was broken because he was handcuffed,
shackled and placed head-first into a police van, where his pleas for
medical attention were repeatedly ignored as he bounced around inside
the small metal box.
The swiftness of her
announcement, less than a day after receiving the police department's
criminal investigation and official autopsy results, took the city by
surprise. So too did her detailed description, based in part on her
office's independent investigation, of the evidence supporting probable
cause to charge all six officers with felonies.
The
police had no reason to stop or chase after Gray, Mosby said. They
falsely accused him of having an illegal switchblade when in fact it was
a legal pocketknife. The van driver and the other officers failed to
strap him down with a seatbelt, a direct violation of department policy,
and they ignored Gray's repeated pleas for medical attention, even
rerouting the van to pick up another passenger.
Mosby did not say whether there
was any indication the driver deliberately drove erratically, causing
Gray's body to strike the van's interior. In 2005, a man died of a
fractured spine after he was transported in a Baltimore police van in
handcuffs and without a seat belt. At a civil trial, an attorney for his
family successfully argued police had given him a "rough ride."
The
officers missed five opportunities to help an injured and falsely
imprisoned detainee before he arrived at the police station no longer
breathing, Mosby said. Along the way, "Mr. Gray suffered a severe and
critical neck injury as a result of being handcuffed, shackled by his
feet and unrestrained inside of the BPD wagon," she said.Her announcement triggered celebrations across the same West Baltimore
streets that were smoldering just four days earlier, when Gray's funeral
led to riots and looting.
Source: Yahoo News
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