Freddie Gray was at worst carelessness, and would seem that police have to use kid gloves on violent, or out of control perps, even to their own peril. No Where in the new york TIMES can I find out that Trooper Tarrantino of Worcester MA was shot and killed by a Freddie Gray character, in a traffic stop on the weekend. No curiosity? This one was an illegal alien, driving without a licence, with a gun which had a silencer, and cocaine in his possession and having a long list of crimes on file. Where are you NYT? You have to read the Worcester Telegram to find out the real news.
We should not convict individual cops for behaving in conformance with a
systemic problem.
The policies and practices of many police departments are clearly abusive, especially toward individuals who have no standing in society.
systemic problem.
The policies and practices of many police departments are clearly abusive, especially toward individuals who have no standing in society.
It would seem that the American system of justice works. A person is presumed innocent, even a law enforcement officer, until it is proven beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law that the person is guilty. Not enough or no proof and the accused is released and maintains his/her innocent status. It really doesn't matter what society "thinks."
1
The family was paid $6,000,000 to help compensate for the loss of their beloved Freddie. I'm sure it helped.
A person who is cuffed & shackled & not secured w/a shoulder/seat belt would have a hard time maintaining their balance in a jolting van. It sounds like Freddie experienced a whiplash so severe that it fractured his neck & led to his death.
A person who is cuffed & shackled & not secured w/a shoulder/seat belt would have a hard time maintaining their balance in a jolting van. It sounds like Freddie experienced a whiplash so severe that it fractured his neck & led to his death.
1
Um, anybody actually know a cop? Know a white cop? A cop is not some drop in from another planet but part of the community s/he works in, and knows the people in it as people. It isn't white against black or some staged version of cops and robbers. It's the street and all the stuff that goes down on the street. Seeing it in Black and White is naive.
3
The heavy-handedness of the urban american police force is well known. Perhaps they should "dial it down" a notch. Excessive use of force does not aid in crime prevention and seems to only make things worse.
Duh? There should have been a conviction, because someone died, and particularly of a white officer even though those most responsible for the situation regarding his transport were black officers? Even though white, black, brown and probably even green people from other planets die all the time from tripping down stairs, getting throwen around in back of trucks and breaking their backs and spines and necks and smashing their skulls. This was an ACCIDENT that the civil rights establishment decided to blow up into an excuse for riots. looting and arson so they could extort big bucks out of someone for their foundations of do nothing family hangers on. And our democratic political class has pumped this all up to a frenzy that has got 100's of more blacks killed by black gangs because of the slow down in policing that it has caused. There real racism, the most murders in our nation now is the use of minority common people as cannon fodder by their "leaders" and our political left and our media in their respective pursuits and greed for more power and money and cheap sensationalist media content.
2
Everyone in America is an immigrant (legal or illegal). This includes the initial whites who came from England, they didn't need green cards, because they had weapons and proceeded to butcher the only race born here, the American Indian. Then they brought African people and made slaves of them because the most wise constitutional framers did not consider Blacks as sanctioned human beings, rather considered them property. Yes illegal immigration is wrong, yet illegal immigrants must be dealt in a humane manner.
The U.S. system was created to segregate American Blacks in Ghettos, Mexican Americans in Barrios, American Indians in Reservations, and American Orientals in China towns. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream.....is still just a dream in 2016. Nearly 240 years of bigotry and racism in America the beautiful.
The U.S. system was created to segregate American Blacks in Ghettos, Mexican Americans in Barrios, American Indians in Reservations, and American Orientals in China towns. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream.....is still just a dream in 2016. Nearly 240 years of bigotry and racism in America the beautiful.
"Nearly 240 years of bigotry and racism in America the beautiful. "
One of the great things about this country is that if you don't like it you are free to leave...
One of the great things about this country is that if you don't like it you are free to leave...
2
@Marcus Aurelius
One of the great things about this country is that we are free to condemn the ignorance of those who in one generation defend their fear and bias by saying, "America, Love it or Leave it," and in present times think they are saying something special with a slogan like " . . . if you don't like it you are free to leave...
One of the great things about this country is that we are free to condemn the ignorance of those who in one generation defend their fear and bias by saying, "America, Love it or Leave it," and in present times think they are saying something special with a slogan like " . . . if you don't like it you are free to leave...
1
Standing by..... waiting for the riots......
1
Let's see what will happen. If all of the police officers are not guilty, I wonder who trussed Freddy Gray and tossed him in the back unrestrained? Who decided to prolong the drive so that he would suffer? Perhaps, the judge believes that Gray had it coming as he was a criminal.
1
The judge felt Officer Nero acted reasonably when he didn't put the seatbelt on Mr. Gray and he said Nero could have assumed one of the others secured him if necessary? Why assume anything? Why not just secure the man? Mr. Gray was in a vehicle that was moving or going to move, wasn't he? Could someone please say (or clarify) when a securing, somehow, a person isn't required and/or necessary if it's going to be moving?
5-24-16@11:15 am
5-24-16@11:15 am
Who is right? Those who heard all the testimony presented in the case or those who are on the street ranting in ignorance? These charges were originally place based on political motivations, not evidence. The jury has weighed the evidence presented and found it lacking. So either the prosecution was incredibly inept or the evidence was not there or maybe both because only inept prosecutors would prosecute based on politics vs hard evidence. Baltimore needs to clean house starting with the Mayor and the city attorneys. The citizens need to accept the verdict and move on, rejoice in the changes already made and look for ways to support law enforcement instead of being in continuous confrontation. Stop favoring criminal activity over the rule of law if you want peace in the streets. It is time for the ministers to unite and pray, hold prayer walks through the city. God will bring about the changes needed.
2
"The jury has weighed the evidence presented and found it lacking."
It was a bench trial -- i.e., a nonjury proceeding presided over by an experienced, well-regarded jurist who happens also to be an African-American. Perhaps I missed it, but I don't recall that being mentioned...
It was a bench trial -- i.e., a nonjury proceeding presided over by an experienced, well-regarded jurist who happens also to be an African-American. Perhaps I missed it, but I don't recall that being mentioned...
3
What stupid people! They quite obviously don't believe in due process.
2
Freddie Gray is not a martyr, just like Michael Brown wasn't a martyr.
These were bad people who did bad things and ended up in a bad way.
That's not a tragedy.
It's called the law of averages.
It's unfortunate that these deaths happened the way that they did, but more than likely some other "tragedy" would have befallen both Mr. Gray and Mr. Brown sooner or later anyways.
Oh well ::shrug::
These were bad people who did bad things and ended up in a bad way.
That's not a tragedy.
It's called the law of averages.
It's unfortunate that these deaths happened the way that they did, but more than likely some other "tragedy" would have befallen both Mr. Gray and Mr. Brown sooner or later anyways.
Oh well ::shrug::
8
This is a tragedy. How much has it cost the city of Baltimore? How much have these incidents cost Chicago? A huge part of Detroit's issue was the dollar amount of lawsuit payouts due to poor police action.
Look, if you have an absentee issue at a factory and someone is five minutes late, do you terminate or focus on more flagrant absence issues? Same thinking for crime. Some actions are simply not worth the officer's time.
If these officers are given no Clear guidelines, we are leaving all the decisions up to the officers on the street. Stressful for them and the people. Are they in a no-win situation?
The cost due to the lack of leadership is the tragedy.
Look, if you have an absentee issue at a factory and someone is five minutes late, do you terminate or focus on more flagrant absence issues? Same thinking for crime. Some actions are simply not worth the officer's time.
If these officers are given no Clear guidelines, we are leaving all the decisions up to the officers on the street. Stressful for them and the people. Are they in a no-win situation?
The cost due to the lack of leadership is the tragedy.
the ny times called brown a "gentle giant". Therefore it must be true.
2
From a practical standpoint I cannot figure out why two officers would go through such lengths to arrest a man who simply ran when he made eye contact with one of the officers. Must have been a slow crime day.
Even if he was an escaped prisoner of some sort from an economic standpoint this was a disaster. To go through all that due to a knife simply does not make sense. Call it in, confiscate the stupid thing and get on with it.
Training and conditioning officers to be more discerning and quit the "everyone is a 'perp' attitude" might prove economically advantageous and maybe even win some support from the residents who are trying.
Even if he was an escaped prisoner of some sort from an economic standpoint this was a disaster. To go through all that due to a knife simply does not make sense. Call it in, confiscate the stupid thing and get on with it.
Training and conditioning officers to be more discerning and quit the "everyone is a 'perp' attitude" might prove economically advantageous and maybe even win some support from the residents who are trying.
1
There is so much more to this story that doesn't get reported. The police were not just riding around looking to grab a black man and throw him in jail. There was a large drug raid that was happening at the time. Freddie Gray was someone they knew from past encounters to have been involved in the drug trade and was in the area when the raid was happening. Did he deserve to die, no. And hopefully we will be able to find out what actually happened.
3
but freddy grey was a repeat perp!
3
"Training and conditioning officers to be more discerning and quit the 'everyone is a 'perp' attitude..."
Gray had a long rapsheet, 18 arrests. He was a known distributor of street drugs...
Gray had a long rapsheet, 18 arrests. He was a known distributor of street drugs...
2
The US is well on its way of becoming a fascist police state. Have fun!
The racially charged case was brought by the racial politics of the African-American mayor. None of these men should have been charged.
5
An attorney once told me, "if you're innocent, ask for a bench trial; if you're guilty, demand a jury". He explained why, a judge is level-headed and will render a dispassionate verdict based on the law and the evidence. A jury is more likely to rule on emotion.
Hence, OJ Simpson was acquitted by a jury despite overwhelming evidence of his guilt. This officer was acquitted of the trumped-up charges brought by a politically-motivated prosecutor despite the overwhelming emotion in the case.
Hence, OJ Simpson was acquitted by a jury despite overwhelming evidence of his guilt. This officer was acquitted of the trumped-up charges brought by a politically-motivated prosecutor despite the overwhelming emotion in the case.
13
Mr Gray was arrested for "running", which is not a crime, treated without any regard as to his health and safety, though he had committed no crime. Why did he run, maybe because he knew how members of his community were routinely treated by the police. Police posses much power, by necessity, and because of this must be held to a much higher standard. If police departments policed themselves as vigourishly as they do the black community these problems would all but disappear. It is time for all the good cops to condemn all the bad cops. You are not really brothers and you are supposed to se ve and protect the public, not each other.
3
This mindset explains why SF is enjoying a quality of life disaster with the homeless.....
2
Ask the other prisoner in the back of the van.
3
would they be decent witnesses with credibility though? Or just common street criminals and thugs?
1
The email from the Times says "Officer Edward M. Nero's trial in Baltimore renewed questions about when police officers can stop a private citizen and what they are allowed to do." It seems that they are allowed to stop anyone and do whatever they want.
@John Link
There is a pernicious myth that seems to form the basis of left-wing thought on policing issues, namely that the street cops are by and large dealing with really nice folks who just happen to be down on their luck... Well, think again. They are dealing with the dregs of society, not nice folks. Bad people, and far too many of them. And when the cops are on the street dealing with people of that kind, bad things sometimes happen even though no one wants them to.
It's a cruel world and a tough job...
There is a pernicious myth that seems to form the basis of left-wing thought on policing issues, namely that the street cops are by and large dealing with really nice folks who just happen to be down on their luck... Well, think again. They are dealing with the dregs of society, not nice folks. Bad people, and far too many of them. And when the cops are on the street dealing with people of that kind, bad things sometimes happen even though no one wants them to.
It's a cruel world and a tough job...
2
Note the people interviewed in the NYT video. The lead-off guy says that he does not care what the crime was, or what the cop was charged with, he should have been convicted.
Really? And we allow these people to vote on complicated issues and the future of this country? And we allow them to sit on juries?
Even worse, the NYT did not interview a single person in this video who thought the verdict was fair. This is an objective press?
And then we beat our breasts and complain about the "racial divide".
Really? And we allow these people to vote on complicated issues and the future of this country? And we allow them to sit on juries?
Even worse, the NYT did not interview a single person in this video who thought the verdict was fair. This is an objective press?
And then we beat our breasts and complain about the "racial divide".
14
The lead-off guy is Westley West, an activist pastor, who is trying to build a career for himself as an agitator....truth be damned. He has spent the last year trying to incite riots....now NYT gives him a platform. Spewing hatred is not going to help this city or anyone. But some people feel they can build a career on it. Thanks, to the NYT, he will feel he has some legitimacy. NYT standards are dropping, makes me sad.
9
@Chris,
I watched the video. Perhaps the first person interviewed spoke in the heat of the moment. I didn't see anything that indicated that the first person interviewed was a member of that jury, so I don't understand the reason for that part of your comment. Last I checked, citizens have the right to vote and they aren't required know all aspects of every issue. (Other than experts, how many people really do?) I've seen the video and I'm re-reading the article. Perhaps there will be more about this, including another video.
5-24-16@11:05 am
I watched the video. Perhaps the first person interviewed spoke in the heat of the moment. I didn't see anything that indicated that the first person interviewed was a member of that jury, so I don't understand the reason for that part of your comment. Last I checked, citizens have the right to vote and they aren't required know all aspects of every issue. (Other than experts, how many people really do?) I've seen the video and I'm re-reading the article. Perhaps there will be more about this, including another video.
5-24-16@11:05 am
sarah,
worse, NY Times standards are increasingly reverse racist where whites are always guilty of crimes against blacks. Look at the Michael brown case and how NY Times called him and "gentle giant" and treated him as such even long after it was shown he tried to take a police officers gun and shoot him with it. Disgraceful. When will this racism end on the part of the NY Times? Will it ever?
worse, NY Times standards are increasingly reverse racist where whites are always guilty of crimes against blacks. Look at the Michael brown case and how NY Times called him and "gentle giant" and treated him as such even long after it was shown he tried to take a police officers gun and shoot him with it. Disgraceful. When will this racism end on the part of the NY Times? Will it ever?
3
I am no attorney, but reading the circumstances surrounding this case, I thought, that unless you had the Law and Order attorney team, these cases were losers.
1
Officer Nero may have momentarily benefited from a "not guilty" verdict in
this collaborative gross disregard for humanity and the Geneva Convention protocols, but for the rest of his life, he will always have a target on his back.
He may change his name, he may change his appearance, he may change his location, but he will never be able to change the guilt that assures him that some day, he will be held accountable for his participation in that hideous and unforgivable act against a human being.
this collaborative gross disregard for humanity and the Geneva Convention protocols, but for the rest of his life, he will always have a target on his back.
He may change his name, he may change his appearance, he may change his location, but he will never be able to change the guilt that assures him that some day, he will be held accountable for his participation in that hideous and unforgivable act against a human being.
dormand,
all your comments assume he is guilty to begin with. What evidence do you have? Do you have more than the jury? You sound like the type of person who would call Michael Brown a "gentle giant" that did not attempt to take a policeman's gun and shoot him with it (despite all evidence that he did).
all your comments assume he is guilty to begin with. What evidence do you have? Do you have more than the jury? You sound like the type of person who would call Michael Brown a "gentle giant" that did not attempt to take a policeman's gun and shoot him with it (despite all evidence that he did).
6
Wishing for or inferring there will be violence against Officer Nero is just continuing the divide between the black community and law enforcement. That's a problem not an answer.
4
So who is going to be held responsible for his death?
Based on the various police narratives and sparse video evidence, a guy who was running on his two feet suddenly becomes incapacitated and has a broken spinal chord that results in his death, and no one knows what happened.
whom are we kidding?
Based on the various police narratives and sparse video evidence, a guy who was running on his two feet suddenly becomes incapacitated and has a broken spinal chord that results in his death, and no one knows what happened.
whom are we kidding?
4
What happened to Mr. Gray shouldn't have. Apparently, even though the incident has been thoroughly investigated, nobody knows exactly when Mr. Gray was injured and by whose hand, specifically.
There's no way to prove something happened beyond a reasonable doubt, when you don't know what happened.
Mr. Gray chose a life of crime with its attendant risks. Any outrage over his injury and subsequent death is misplaced. The outrage is that hardened criminals like Mr. Gray are free in our society to victimize innocents and fight police. Mr. Gray and his ilk belong in custody for the good of society and their own protection. Their judgment is too faulty to allow them to be free to exercise it.
There's no way to prove something happened beyond a reasonable doubt, when you don't know what happened.
Mr. Gray chose a life of crime with its attendant risks. Any outrage over his injury and subsequent death is misplaced. The outrage is that hardened criminals like Mr. Gray are free in our society to victimize innocents and fight police. Mr. Gray and his ilk belong in custody for the good of society and their own protection. Their judgment is too faulty to allow them to be free to exercise it.
18
to Ess Dee; your comment is outrageous and your heart is cold! Mr Gray at worst, was involved in petty crimes. He was riding his bike! How do you know he was a "hardened criminal"? It seems your judgement is faulty and biased.
2
My heart is hardened to criminals because it is full of empathy and caring for those innocents who are victimized by them every day. I cannot care for both, so I choose to care for the good. Mr. Gray's record below with "unlawful ... of a controlled dangerous substance" deleted for space from most lines. A hardened criminal. A monster and menace to society.
3/20/15: Possession of Controlled Dangerous Substance
3/13/15: Malicious destruction, assault
1/20/15: Burglary, trespassing
1/14/15: Possession of controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute
12/31/14: Possession of narcotics with intent to distribute
12/14/14: Possession of a controlled dangerous substance
8/31/14: Illegal gambling, trespassing
1/25/14: Possession of marijuana
9/28/13: Distribution of narcotics, possession of a controlled dangerous substance, assault, escape
4/13/12: Possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute, unlawful possession of a controlled dangerous substance, violation of probation
7/16/08: Possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession with intent to distribute
3/28/08: Possession.
3/14/08: Possession with intent to manufacture and distribute
2/11/08: Possession of a controlled dangerous substance
8/29/07: Possession with intent to distribute, violation of probation
8/28/07: Possession of marijuana
8/23/07: False statement to a peace officer, possession.
7/16/07: Possession with intent to distribute (2 counts)
3/20/15: Possession of Controlled Dangerous Substance
3/13/15: Malicious destruction, assault
1/20/15: Burglary, trespassing
1/14/15: Possession of controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute
12/31/14: Possession of narcotics with intent to distribute
12/14/14: Possession of a controlled dangerous substance
8/31/14: Illegal gambling, trespassing
1/25/14: Possession of marijuana
9/28/13: Distribution of narcotics, possession of a controlled dangerous substance, assault, escape
4/13/12: Possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute, unlawful possession of a controlled dangerous substance, violation of probation
7/16/08: Possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession with intent to distribute
3/28/08: Possession.
3/14/08: Possession with intent to manufacture and distribute
2/11/08: Possession of a controlled dangerous substance
8/29/07: Possession with intent to distribute, violation of probation
8/28/07: Possession of marijuana
8/23/07: False statement to a peace officer, possession.
7/16/07: Possession with intent to distribute (2 counts)
2
Monster and menace to society? This looks like a history of minor drug charges. If he was some kind of kingpin of crime he wouldn't have been back on the street nearly immediately. Legalization of marijuana would have cleared most of this. I don't know that the "assault and escape" circumstances were. Evidently you believe that a death sentence would have been appropriate for this mess of relatively minor offenses. I have to think you're really just a troll and I've blown a few minutes on this, but if not you really need to recalibrate your thinking.
1
“There has been no information presented at this trial that the defendant intended for any crime to happen,” Judge Williams said. I hope I can use this in my defense if I ever get arrested for a crime. Probably, not!
1
Wilson,
that part is required to show premeditation, otherwise it may end up being just manslaughter (i.e., unintentional). The prosecution was going for gold here.
that part is required to show premeditation, otherwise it may end up being just manslaughter (i.e., unintentional). The prosecution was going for gold here.
1
No one will be held accountable for this death, which just reinforces the belief by most African Americans that the system is broken and they don't count. Gray was not able to walk to the van, he already had some damage before being placed in the van for that "rough ride".
3
The saddest part of it all is that it is not news. Once white police officers start getting convicted for killing unarmed black people THAT will be news.
Just another seriously sad day for the American justice system.
Just another seriously sad day for the American justice system.
1
no, what would really matter is if blacks were to reduce the amount of crime they commit. You are aware they commit a disproportionate amount of crime, are you not?
3
“There has been no information presented at this trial that the defendant intended for any crime to happen,” Judge Williams said.
And that's the only relevant aspect of the story. Not every unfortunate outcome is a crime. To be convicted of committing a crime, the prosecutor must prove to all twelve citizens in the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant consciously intended to violate the law. That is an extremely difficult task but it is the foundation of justice: trying to ensure that only the truly guilty are convicted and that the innocent or even not-quite-guilty are not.
In this case, the acquittal doesn't mean that the police officer is innocent, just that he can't be found guilty under the normal criminal law.
As for "no justice, no peace," this outcome was, by definition, justice. Only those who want vengeance rather than justice will be disappointed with the verdict.
And that's the only relevant aspect of the story. Not every unfortunate outcome is a crime. To be convicted of committing a crime, the prosecutor must prove to all twelve citizens in the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant consciously intended to violate the law. That is an extremely difficult task but it is the foundation of justice: trying to ensure that only the truly guilty are convicted and that the innocent or even not-quite-guilty are not.
In this case, the acquittal doesn't mean that the police officer is innocent, just that he can't be found guilty under the normal criminal law.
As for "no justice, no peace," this outcome was, by definition, justice. Only those who want vengeance rather than justice will be disappointed with the verdict.
9
The Judge was black; so maybe a riot was avoided or he will be voted out of office. The charges were so far down the foodline that they were laughable. Defense took chance with a black judge and won. Too bad it has come to the color of one's skin to decide verdicts.
6
If the judge had been white Baltimore's urbanites would be burning the city down.
9
It is obvious, based on the video, that this boy was fatally injured BEFORE he was placed in the van. I am always furious when I hear reports that his injuries were sustained while in the van.
3
His acquittal "was based on a narrow ruling"?!
He was found not guilty of the charges based on evidence and due process. The NYT is unhinged when it comes to their "tar and feather the police" midset in the interest of justice- as they see it.
He was found not guilty of the charges based on evidence and due process. The NYT is unhinged when it comes to their "tar and feather the police" midset in the interest of justice- as they see it.
12
The fact that officer Nero was arrested at all bears striking testament that this whole issue was a political attempt to railroad cops in what has now become a national pastime: scapegoating people (yes, cops) as an excuse for societal and personal failures. Those persecuted cops should now seek legal recourse, including a law suit for 'malicious prosecution' .
11
This article incorrectlystates that Ms. Mosby is Maryland's top prosecutor. She is the State's Attorney for the City of Baltimore, not the top prosecutor for the State of Maryland. Hopefully she won't keep her position much longer.
11
“Someone dying doesn’t always make it a crime,” Mr. Moskos said. “The prosecutors are trying to find social justice, but these are trials of individual cops.”
Justice done to an individual, after Due Process of Law, greatly differs from "social justice" as determined by a mob.
Justice done to an individual, after Due Process of Law, greatly differs from "social justice" as determined by a mob.
8
If there was an altercation during the arrest of Grey ..a physical altercation it appears, then should not some of the police officers who were perhaps not physically in contact with Grey but seeing his condition, be accomplices after the fact..??
How is it that a person's spine is broken in an arrest..??
That has to be determined and those responsible for the death, manslaughter, excessive use of force, or whatever, need to be prosecuted.
STAN CHUN
Wellington
New Zealand
24 May, 2016.
How is it that a person's spine is broken in an arrest..??
That has to be determined and those responsible for the death, manslaughter, excessive use of force, or whatever, need to be prosecuted.
STAN CHUN
Wellington
New Zealand
24 May, 2016.
1
Disturbing, shameful, disgusting, a fraud, a sham. Unacceptable. This is "the Land of the Free"? America's Land of the Free Title Was Just Revoked.
As far as I can see, the police were just doing their job. Also, Gray ran from the police as soon as he saw them, which is a bad idea, not to mention illegal. You face being charged with a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for one year if you run from police, so it is understandable that they arrested him.
As for treating him in the van, that was self inflicted injury and all the charges should be dropped on the officers.
I sure hope the justice department doesn't get in to any of this.
As for treating him in the van, that was self inflicted injury and all the charges should be dropped on the officers.
I sure hope the justice department doesn't get in to any of this.
2
justice of the peace,
it will get into it as much as it did of Reginald Denny's racially inspired beating by black gang members in LA during the Rodney King riots or the pogrom of Koreans in LA of the same time. Where was the Justice Dept and its love of prosecuting civil rights crimes then?
it will get into it as much as it did of Reginald Denny's racially inspired beating by black gang members in LA during the Rodney King riots or the pogrom of Koreans in LA of the same time. Where was the Justice Dept and its love of prosecuting civil rights crimes then?
@Justice of the peace,
Running from the police is illegal? You mean if there's probable cause or whatever it's called?
5-24-16@1:31 pm
Running from the police is illegal? You mean if there's probable cause or whatever it's called?
5-24-16@1:31 pm
Why is it that the only people who ever seem to get the benefit of the doubt are the police? Look at the case of the New York City rookie police officer who killed a black man in a poorly lit stairwell. His defense was basically that he was afraid and startled by the presence of two black people, so he felt justified in firing a shot. That bullet hit an innocent man and killed him. That officer was even too afraid to provide emergency medical assistance to his victim. Yes he was convicted but it doesn't look like he'll spend any time in jail for this crime. Moral of the story: no judge or jury has the guts to stand up and hold the police accountable to crimes committed by the police.
2
You obviously have no clue of what happened as far as this officer's involvement or lack of involvement with this arrest; read the article. No wonder Europe is going down the toilet.
5
And so it goes when prosecutorial decisions are made to quell potential unrest without any actual basis or hope that the trial, if held fairly, will end in conviction. Im sure one of the things the prosecution counted on was a panel of citizenry who , if they werent busy sitting on a jury, would be out looting and burning. Jokes on them, an impartial Judge did what should have been done without a trial, set the cop free. But hey, at least it cost an already bankrupt city millions of dollars. Next.
8
Ion the rush to convict somebody so we'd all feel better, wouldn't it make sense to convict somebody who actually did something? Anything? If there is a bad seed in there hopefully justice will be served. But a witch hunt to convict any cop in the area of his death is no justice at all.
6
According to every lawyer I know, these officers should never have been charged.
It's an example of an overly aggressive prosecutor looking for headlines.
Will the protestors be there when the black officers are acquitted as well?
It's an example of an overly aggressive prosecutor looking for headlines.
Will the protestors be there when the black officers are acquitted as well?
8
i don't know the facts of this case so I cannot speak to this officer's culpability. But with a jury mistrial/hung jury on the first defendant, and now a bench trial not guilty on this defendant, my question is why didn't the prosecutor charge all with murder or manslaughter and try them all together and let the jury figure out who, if anyone, was guilty?
In my personal experience, I've found jurors to be willing to give cops a pass because of the dangers of being police officers.
In my personal experience, I've found jurors to be willing to give cops a pass because of the dangers of being police officers.
There is a difference between a political outcome and a legal outcome, Partlycloudy. The prosecutor, a politician, was banking on a political outcome; she guessed wrong. So far, due process -- a concept seemingly foreign to the NYT and its devotees -- has produced legal outcomes: a hung jury in the Porter case and clear-cut acquittal in the Nero matter.
1
Americans concentrate too much on punishment. Punishment doesn't make the crime go away.
Instead of putting so much energy into punishment, it would be better to try to figure out how to stop, or at least diminish, these killings in the future. "Holding the police accountable" after the fact does not, in fact, do this; it just pretends.
Instead of putting so much energy into punishment, it would be better to try to figure out how to stop, or at least diminish, these killings in the future. "Holding the police accountable" after the fact does not, in fact, do this; it just pretends.
2
abo,
maybe the US should not incarcerate anyone. All those convicted should simply be shipped off to the suburbs, preferably those with a large percentage of NY TImes readers. They would be overjoyed, no doubt. Or perhaps vehemently against the idea. You decide.
maybe the US should not incarcerate anyone. All those convicted should simply be shipped off to the suburbs, preferably those with a large percentage of NY TImes readers. They would be overjoyed, no doubt. Or perhaps vehemently against the idea. You decide.
1
Killer cop cuddled. As usual.
2
This verdict brings to mind a line from an article in the Baltimore Sun, titled "Why Freddie Gray Ran": "Baltimore police officers are not bad people, but they are put in an untenable position." At the time of my reading, the implied abdication of responsibility offended me, but this verdict has helped me to see this case in a different light.
From Mr. Nero's perspective, he entered a 'high crime' neighborhood that day (like many others) and adhered to the applicable definition of probable cause. In accordance with his unique balance of training, circumstance and personal bias, he legally pursued an individual who fit his definition of 'dangerous." When a knife was found, he participated in a lawful arrest. He was not a direct agent of the reckless and willful acts that led to the death of Mr. Gray.
From where I sit, there truly isn't much daylight between Mr. Nero and the rest of us. His crime was to reduce a scared and desperate young man to a belligerent threat, while ours has been to perpetuate oppression that all but guaranteed this meeting.
We, along with Mr. Nero, are innocent by law, but we are also communally responsible for de-humanizing those we perceive as threatening. People don't like to hear this, because if means (1) they have a problem and (2) they have to participate in a solution. But, as long as denial persists, so will the cycle of dead kids and riots. You pick.
From Mr. Nero's perspective, he entered a 'high crime' neighborhood that day (like many others) and adhered to the applicable definition of probable cause. In accordance with his unique balance of training, circumstance and personal bias, he legally pursued an individual who fit his definition of 'dangerous." When a knife was found, he participated in a lawful arrest. He was not a direct agent of the reckless and willful acts that led to the death of Mr. Gray.
From where I sit, there truly isn't much daylight between Mr. Nero and the rest of us. His crime was to reduce a scared and desperate young man to a belligerent threat, while ours has been to perpetuate oppression that all but guaranteed this meeting.
We, along with Mr. Nero, are innocent by law, but we are also communally responsible for de-humanizing those we perceive as threatening. People don't like to hear this, because if means (1) they have a problem and (2) they have to participate in a solution. But, as long as denial persists, so will the cycle of dead kids and riots. You pick.
10
Yet another humiliating embarrassment for BC Law and their flawed left wing extremist Law School.
Besides John Kerry and the Iran deal fiacso putting Israel in deep harms way and jeopardy, BC has Mosby trying to make new laws while acting like a politically puppet tool and a showboating race card playing lawyer who is hurting solid law enforcement officers.
Freddie was a 22x arrested drug dealer and child predator who was resisting yet another arrest.
His mom who hit the Race Card Lotto with the settlement is trying to stir up hate and riots.
Mosby is a real life disgrace, but a true hero to the left wing radicals who don't see how the police are the only victims having to risk their lives every second with these thugs.
Besides John Kerry and the Iran deal fiacso putting Israel in deep harms way and jeopardy, BC has Mosby trying to make new laws while acting like a politically puppet tool and a showboating race card playing lawyer who is hurting solid law enforcement officers.
Freddie was a 22x arrested drug dealer and child predator who was resisting yet another arrest.
His mom who hit the Race Card Lotto with the settlement is trying to stir up hate and riots.
Mosby is a real life disgrace, but a true hero to the left wing radicals who don't see how the police are the only victims having to risk their lives every second with these thugs.
6
And denial persists...
The judge should go to jail.
2
The judge made his ruling. That is in no way illegal. Nice try, though.
14
There should be laws criminalizing egregious violations of the facts by people wearing judges robes that exonerate murderers, prosecutors who get innocent people to the gas chamber should be given the death penalty, and police committing murder should be treated like any other fellon. The gullible will vote for Trump.
If you believe this verdict where an American lost his life at the hands of the police I have an extremely beautiful bridges for sale just for you and all those recommending your post. Excellent price!!!
If you believe this verdict where an American lost his life at the hands of the police I have an extremely beautiful bridges for sale just for you and all those recommending your post. Excellent price!!!
2
The guy in the picture is making me yawn. Perhaps the picture editor should read the story first. There's nothing on this officer. Clear past what the judge had to say.
3
And the traditional impunity for white cops who kill unarmed black men continues without missing a beat. It's long past time this ad hoc lynching be stopped!
http://regressivewatch.org
http://regressivewatch.org
2
This young man's spinal cord was severed and his voice box was broken/crushed, and no explanation has been offered by the police. I was hoping a trial and investigation would force these questions to be answered, but I guess the police and prosecution will always protect their own.
5
The prosecution charged the man and brought him to court. The judge acquitted him. Dont blame the prosecutotlrs.
3
Jeff New York the policemen, and their accomplices the judge and the prosecutors, ALL belong in jail for murder.
If a prosecutor brings charges in a politically frought case without evidence to support those charges, justice requires more than "oh, never mind".
No justice, no peace?
No justice, no peace?
7
I wonder if the times will photograph the black police officers should they stand trial as often as they have this white police officer? Will they show the black cops always in the presence of a sheriff's deputy, which seems a standard technique by the times' photographers to imply he is in custody or otherwise under restraint? I bet they won't show them handcuffed, because showing blacks in chains isn't done. Ah, this political correctness! With every incident the polls shift a little bit in the presidential race ...
17
The Freddie Gray case is another black vs. black matter, with some white bit players like Officer Nero roped into it to make it fit a little better into The Narrative of white racism being somehow at fault.
Officer Nero was only on trial because he's white. He should sue Ms. Mosby for racist wrongful prosecution.
Officer Nero was only on trial because he's white. He should sue Ms. Mosby for racist wrongful prosecution.
28
Should never have been charged. Nothing even close to grounds to charge him.
The justice system is more and more just an extension of politics.
The justice system is more and more just an extension of politics.
25
Undisputed facts from the Freddie Gray case that the media has failed to report on:
1. Gray and two friends are walking along North Ave. when, after seeing police, Gray and one of the two friends flee for no explicable reason.
2. Gray runs roughly 10 blocks, through public housing and back up to North Ave., one block from where he originally fled, and is arrested.
3. Brandon Ross, the second friend who didn't flee, is there to video the arrest (and is the same video most widely seen in the media and on the internet).
4. The State and the medical examiner, who ruled the death a homicide and testified in the first trial on behalf of the State, concede that Gray wasn't injured during the arrest and that the injury almost certainly occured while Gray was standing in the police van, fell, and hit the back of his neck on a bolt--i.e. Gray was faking injury during the arrest.
5. Brandon Ross can be heard shouting in the video "why you twistin his leg like that" despite the video clearly showing the police doing nothing of the sort.
6. Both police and witnesses stated that Gray was violently "banging himself around" in the van after he had been arrested and loaded.
There's more evidence suggesting Gray was intentionally trying to injure himself in a "crash-for-cash" scheme and fell against the wall of the van, than there is that any officers committed a crime.
1. Gray and two friends are walking along North Ave. when, after seeing police, Gray and one of the two friends flee for no explicable reason.
2. Gray runs roughly 10 blocks, through public housing and back up to North Ave., one block from where he originally fled, and is arrested.
3. Brandon Ross, the second friend who didn't flee, is there to video the arrest (and is the same video most widely seen in the media and on the internet).
4. The State and the medical examiner, who ruled the death a homicide and testified in the first trial on behalf of the State, concede that Gray wasn't injured during the arrest and that the injury almost certainly occured while Gray was standing in the police van, fell, and hit the back of his neck on a bolt--i.e. Gray was faking injury during the arrest.
5. Brandon Ross can be heard shouting in the video "why you twistin his leg like that" despite the video clearly showing the police doing nothing of the sort.
6. Both police and witnesses stated that Gray was violently "banging himself around" in the van after he had been arrested and loaded.
There's more evidence suggesting Gray was intentionally trying to injure himself in a "crash-for-cash" scheme and fell against the wall of the van, than there is that any officers committed a crime.
22
Is running a crime?
Fleeing police in a high crime area legally gives police probable cause to suspect a crime amd detain a suspect, which is what happened to Freddie Gray, a known (to the police), corner drug dealer. He was then arrested for having an illegal knife.
5
The police could learn a thing from the TSA. If cops see a man running from them, the cops should stop and frisk some babies.
It appears that if the FOP is truly interested in serving ALL the people, and doing good service to those in Blue, they would be more reserved and hold their tongues! Their rhetoric is fanning the flames of unrest and uncertainty!
1
"Proof, beyond a reasonable doubt." Very difficult burden of proof to carry. In cases like this, almost impossible.
Does not mean there wasn't "malfeasance" here -- just couldn't be proven with near certainty, as required in criminal law cases.
But, maybe a civil suit recourse -- that one has to overcome the "qualified immunity" protection afforded the police, against such a civil suit. But, the burden of proof there ("clear and convincing") is a step down from that of "beyond a reasonable doubt."
Does not mean there wasn't "malfeasance" here -- just couldn't be proven with near certainty, as required in criminal law cases.
But, maybe a civil suit recourse -- that one has to overcome the "qualified immunity" protection afforded the police, against such a civil suit. But, the burden of proof there ("clear and convincing") is a step down from that of "beyond a reasonable doubt."
4
They have already settled the civil suit. The mayor of Baltimore has poured six and a half million dollars into the hands of the family, once they found the family. And the standard would be "preponderance of the evidence". Clear and convincing is most common in fraud civil cases.
9
You may be right about the PoE standard. But, when the courts use the world "clearly" in a decision, it often means "Clear and Convincing," or some standard above PoE.
____________________
"...[qualiied Immunity] protects government officials from lawsuits alleging that they violated plaintiffs’ rights, only allowing suits where officials violated a “clearly established” statutory or constitutional right. When determining whether or not a right was “clearly established,” courts consider whether a hypothetical reasonable official would have known that the defendant’s conduct violated the plaintiff’s rights."
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/qualified_immunity
____________________
"...[qualiied Immunity] protects government officials from lawsuits alleging that they violated plaintiffs’ rights, only allowing suits where officials violated a “clearly established” statutory or constitutional right. When determining whether or not a right was “clearly established,” courts consider whether a hypothetical reasonable official would have known that the defendant’s conduct violated the plaintiff’s rights."
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/qualified_immunity
Why doe the legal system even bother to question law enforcement officials as they are never held responsible?
3
its th - hey, we tried - defense
the jury (not mobs of city burning inner city youth), after a trial, found him innocent. Could that be the reason?
Yoda, it was a BLACK judge who found officer Nero not guilty... It was a nonjury trial and a good judge did the right thing...
Have people read the whole article ?
Officer Nero should never have been charged.
Attorney General Mosby has made a mess of this whole case and should
step down before no one is convicted of this tragic death.
Officer Nero should never have been charged.
Attorney General Mosby has made a mess of this whole case and should
step down before no one is convicted of this tragic death.
24
To convict a police officer of assault, you need to prove that he intended to do harm rather than intending to use the force required to make an arrest. The key to conviction is proving what is in the officer's mind and proving it beyond a reasonable doubt. A lot of people say the police should be treated like ordinary citizens. But ordinary citizens do not generally have the authority to use force in making an arrest. The guilt of a police officer in a case like this turns uniquely on his state of mind. In extreme cases you can infer state of mind from an officer's actions. But in the typical case, the officer will testify that he may have stepped over the line, but his intentions were good. Unless he said something contrary at the scene or unless he discussed the matter with someone else, there is seldom any concrete evidence that he intended to do harm. Those who call for prosecution in every shooting of an unarmed civilian generally overlook this intent requirement. Proving what someone is thinking and proving it beyond a reasonable doubt is a longshot. And like any other defendant, a police officer has the right not to be charged unless there is a reasonable possibility of conviction. The law makes conviction in these cases extremely difficult. Yet many people call for prosecution based on the bare facts. That leads to further injustice. These cases are land mines. Anyone who gets near them is likely to be blown up.
9
What was he arrested for?
1
Gray was arrested for possession of an illegal weapon.
2
If officer Nero was in the van while Freddie was en route to the police station then he should have made sure Freddie was safe and secure in the back of the van and he should not have allowed the driver to drive erratically. That was his duty. But keep in mind that we live in a racist country and that Baltimore is below the Mason Dixon Line the line that was the demarcation line for delineating out in the open racism with Black entrances, fountains and African Americans treated like chattel. It seems clear from the video that Freddie was not conscious when he was put in the van. Had his neck been broken prior to him being put in the van- we will never know. However, since he was bleeding and not conscious and ambulance should have been called to attend to him as opposed to the police throwing him into a van with no treatment. This is another example of racism.
2
He wasn't in the van though. Ooops!
1
If the police are never held to account, then, doesn't it stand to reason, they will continue to kill Black males? That is, they know they can kill them and get away with it.
4
When I read about this case, even the prosecution's witnesses seemed to support Nero's innocence so I'm not surprised at the outcome. The really guilty one seems to Goodson, the driver of the van, who both caused the injury by his intentionally reckless driving and by neglecting his responsibility to insure that all passengers in his van were secured by a seatbelt. His trial will be the most interesting.
3
Justice prevailed.
10
This verdict will be complained about by a lot people.
Many of them will be the same people who believed that the O.J. verdict was justified and even celebrated it.
Their complaints I don’t take too seriously.
Many of them will be the same people who believed that the O.J. verdict was justified and even celebrated it.
Their complaints I don’t take too seriously.
20
Some commenters here accuse other commenters of claiming that the black community generally is solely responsible for the criminal acts of some of its members. I don't think that anyone is saying that. Rather, what they are pointing out is that there is a violent crime problem in some black neighborhoods that is more severe than in any white neighborhood, and so long as that state of affairs persists, it's unrealistic to think that police encounters -- and with them the increased chance of shootings -- in those neighborhoods will become less frequent or dangerous. The Black Lives Matter movement seems to accept this reality (if not, they're not thinking rationally). But although it's not clear who the movement thinks bears the responsibility to reduce that criminality, the movement decidedly seems to believe that substantial responsibility for facilitating that reduction lies outside of the black community. It's that implication that I think commenters are reacting to.
15
Justice was served. Officer Nero has endured a gaunlet of legalities and public scorn and that will weigh heavily on his conscience for the rest of his life.
Justice was served and will continue.
Justice was served and will continue.
6
Let the looting and burning begin.
And let the DOJ take action against the police and system of law.
And let the NYT support both actions.
And let the DOJ take action against the police and system of law.
And let the NYT support both actions.
17
Lets see if I have this correctly..An African American judge basically says the white officer charged by the African-American prosecutor is innocent of all charges. He also infers that the charges are baseless. Sounds like a case of over prosecution to serve a social justice motive. The previous case ended 11-1 for acquittal so I'm guessing the first officer wished he had had a bench trial. The next trials may well end the same. the most serious charges are against African American officers....
26
This is a clear case of justice gone amok. Simply not acceptable.
4
In which way has it gone amok? Prosecuting the people that put their lives on the line every day to protect us? Or???
2
It is the prosecutor's in cases as these that should be sent to prison.
These are part of the many wolves eating away at our society.
These are part of the many wolves eating away at our society.
18
The media must be disappointed.
20
For a person with brown skin,who lived in both Baltimore and Missouri, I have never been discriminated/hurled a racial epithet by a black person. Saying that I have never been robbed at gunpoint by a white person as well. 10 years down the line I have forgotten the person who robbed me of my valuables, but I haven't forgotten the person who insulted me just because of who I am.
8
Don't you just love it when the presumption of innocence is turned on its head? As in some other well known cases, the sympathy I had with the deceased was buried by the political prosecutions based on skin color or the new crime of being a police officer. There is no social or any other kind of justice when innocent individuals are politically prosecuted based on racial theories or their profession. It overshadows rational need for ongoing police reform and actual cases of abuse.
Some of these officers might be guilty. Sometimes they are and it is a travesty when they get away with it - same as anyone else. But, we should all wait for the facts rather than presume guilt. The actions of the government in rushing to make a civil settlement with taxpayer money, and the prosecution of all the officers regardless of their involvement, makes it hard to believe they are interested in actual justice. Though the Gray's own lawyer was quite fair after the verdict, after hearing the facts of this case, it is harder to believe the prosecution is. Nothing Mr. Gray did could possibly justify his injury or death and if any of the officers is criminally liable, I hope there is a conviction. But not a political one.
What is called the Ferguson Effect could also be called the Baltimore effect. The real horror is so many other poor people have and will continue to die because of some people's desire for what they ironically call justice.
Some of these officers might be guilty. Sometimes they are and it is a travesty when they get away with it - same as anyone else. But, we should all wait for the facts rather than presume guilt. The actions of the government in rushing to make a civil settlement with taxpayer money, and the prosecution of all the officers regardless of their involvement, makes it hard to believe they are interested in actual justice. Though the Gray's own lawyer was quite fair after the verdict, after hearing the facts of this case, it is harder to believe the prosecution is. Nothing Mr. Gray did could possibly justify his injury or death and if any of the officers is criminally liable, I hope there is a conviction. But not a political one.
What is called the Ferguson Effect could also be called the Baltimore effect. The real horror is so many other poor people have and will continue to die because of some people's desire for what they ironically call justice.
37
Does the name Mike Nilfong ring a bell? He was removed from office, disbarred and subsequently jailed for bringing an obviously false prosecution in the Duke Lacrosse case. Ms. Mosby suffered a mistrial 11-1 in the first case. Now a judge tossed the second, and probably won't be able to get sustainable convictions against the other four defendants.
By bringing these cases with so little meat to warrant convictions, she is either incompetent or too politically motivated to carry out her charge. You don't charge people with felonies for the six o'clock news.
She needs to go, and the Maryland Bar should be looking to see if there were any ethical violations by bringing these cases to trial in such a shoddy manner. She needs to be reminded that we don't do political trials in this country.country
By bringing these cases with so little meat to warrant convictions, she is either incompetent or too politically motivated to carry out her charge. You don't charge people with felonies for the six o'clock news.
She needs to go, and the Maryland Bar should be looking to see if there were any ethical violations by bringing these cases to trial in such a shoddy manner. She needs to be reminded that we don't do political trials in this country.country
18
No one responsible,get the citizens money back.
5
"The verdict is likely to renew debate over whether anyone will be held responsible for Mr. Gray’s death." The verdict is simple: Gray is responsible. He was black. Case closed.
Some commentors compare black death by cop to death by other members of the black community to show that there is a discriminatory factor or factors to be considered. Yhey are correct.
Cops are there to protect the community, it's citizens and the values of a democracy. That is not a reality for the black community forced to endure the abuse by their own due to many factors including social, economic and political.
But the cops are by definition different from the thugs, drug dealers and criminals found in all communities except perhaps in Trump Towers or Chappaqua or other totally racially segregated spaces in America. And even there crime exists but it is white crime. We even have and use that term: "White crime".
So are the cops different. Absolutely. I grew up in a white neighborhood where the only thing the cops did was take graft. The mob kept order as well as the neighbors. People of color could not even walk the side streets or shop on one of the most then well known shopping streets in Queens.
Everyone knew their place and stayed with their own. The police had open license to kill and did. So did the mob which like most of the community was white. Did anyone complain? The media covered the murder/mayham with headlines "Another mob hit body surfaced.." Times change but racism hasn't.
Some commentors compare black death by cop to death by other members of the black community to show that there is a discriminatory factor or factors to be considered. Yhey are correct.
Cops are there to protect the community, it's citizens and the values of a democracy. That is not a reality for the black community forced to endure the abuse by their own due to many factors including social, economic and political.
But the cops are by definition different from the thugs, drug dealers and criminals found in all communities except perhaps in Trump Towers or Chappaqua or other totally racially segregated spaces in America. And even there crime exists but it is white crime. We even have and use that term: "White crime".
So are the cops different. Absolutely. I grew up in a white neighborhood where the only thing the cops did was take graft. The mob kept order as well as the neighbors. People of color could not even walk the side streets or shop on one of the most then well known shopping streets in Queens.
Everyone knew their place and stayed with their own. The police had open license to kill and did. So did the mob which like most of the community was white. Did anyone complain? The media covered the murder/mayham with headlines "Another mob hit body surfaced.." Times change but racism hasn't.
1
"People of color could not even walk the side streets or shop on one of the most then well known shopping streets in Queens." " Everyone knew their place and stayed with their own."
It's pretty ironic how many of these white cops and mobsters would stop by my predominantly black neighborhood to check in on their mistress or do their dirty business deals and drug dealing. These cops and mobsters are thugs and drug dealers - they are common criminals. They don't care how they make their money as long as they can spend it. They make sure they bust those who are climbing the ladder too quickly What they do and how they harm our communities is not considered a big deal because it's done on our streets. There will never be progress for our neighborhoods where corruption is permitted to thrive especially at our expense.
It's pretty ironic how many of these white cops and mobsters would stop by my predominantly black neighborhood to check in on their mistress or do their dirty business deals and drug dealing. These cops and mobsters are thugs and drug dealers - they are common criminals. They don't care how they make their money as long as they can spend it. They make sure they bust those who are climbing the ladder too quickly What they do and how they harm our communities is not considered a big deal because it's done on our streets. There will never be progress for our neighborhoods where corruption is permitted to thrive especially at our expense.
3
I think your comment supports what I said above.
Under the status quo and no real significant and effective changes, the racism remains: the method of its expression changes.
Slavery becomes share cropping and unemployment. Unemployment and lack of social services and all that comes of that leads to run down communities shunned by government and corporate America except to use as an example of the failures of the communities not the finality of overt and more subtle racism and discrimination.
In the end, the racism and community breakdowns effect everyone. Do not blame the victims. Acknowledge the real problems causing the problems and then become part of the solution.
Under the status quo and no real significant and effective changes, the racism remains: the method of its expression changes.
Slavery becomes share cropping and unemployment. Unemployment and lack of social services and all that comes of that leads to run down communities shunned by government and corporate America except to use as an example of the failures of the communities not the finality of overt and more subtle racism and discrimination.
In the end, the racism and community breakdowns effect everyone. Do not blame the victims. Acknowledge the real problems causing the problems and then become part of the solution.
2
This strikes me as the weakest charge in the Freddie Gray case, and no one should be surprised Nero wasn't convicted. As the driver, Goodson seems to be primarily responsible for Gray's death. Goodson's callous disregard for the safety of a shackled and handcuffed prisoner in the steel cell of a police van is appalling.
Rather than a mere oversight, the disregard for Gray's safety sounded more like a punitive move that's been finely honed by the Baltimore Police Department. It will be interesting if any other victims of this treatment have the courage to come forward. Given the possible consequences, I suspect it's unlikely.
Rather than a mere oversight, the disregard for Gray's safety sounded more like a punitive move that's been finely honed by the Baltimore Police Department. It will be interesting if any other victims of this treatment have the courage to come forward. Given the possible consequences, I suspect it's unlikely.
1
When they get to Goodson, he is going to claim Freddie Gray's neck was broken but the guys who have already been acquitted. Or that there was negligence at the hospital. Or that Freddie Gray broke his own neck by carrying on in the van.
I know this comment will never get published. The reason these injustices continue against blacks (I am African American in part myself) is that blacks have not signified a readiness to die on a wholesale level to earn the status of first class citizen. It was 600,000 white American men who died to free them from slavery in the Civil War. There were some brave black men along the way, but nothing on a wholesale level. This is America. It is not enough to "survive" 400 years of oppression. One has to be willing to die. Sorry the truth hurts.
4
I understand but never resort to violence.
Intelligence always succeeds over brute force.
Use the law against the bad cops just like they use the power of the law against us. Be smart.
Intelligence always succeeds over brute force.
Use the law against the bad cops just like they use the power of the law against us. Be smart.
1
It is with that false belief that no one will be held accountable in Freddie Gray's death. Just watch.
Blacks died wholesale right along with us in every war we've been through, including the Civil War.They fought in segregated regiments through at least WWII, and unsegregated after that.. They've proven that they are equal Americans.
There are two more things they must do to turn the tide: vote (please, please vote!) ; and stand up against the bad eggs in those violent neighborhoods-yes, snitch! I know that history hasn't been kind or fair, but look at yourselves now and stand up for yourselves-even against each other.
There are two more things they must do to turn the tide: vote (please, please vote!) ; and stand up against the bad eggs in those violent neighborhoods-yes, snitch! I know that history hasn't been kind or fair, but look at yourselves now and stand up for yourselves-even against each other.
2
Many claim that no one will be held accountable, yet the city and its taxpayers have been held accountable to the tune of 6.4 million dollars. Given our criminal laws, as Officer Nero's attorney points out, it is unlikely that any individuals will be held criminally liable.
8
Live with the verdict people. We all felt OJ was guilty too but had to adjust. A decision is a decision.
15
The same as having a jury that consists of all police. Certainly time to judge that judge and all the rest too. Criminals helping criminals just like the police policing the police. No chance of justice.
3
Acquittal appears proper from the evidence.
19
The progressives among us insist they want justice. They reveal themselves as believers in mob justice.
20
Black judge, former prosecutor who sent corrupt policemen to prison. heard all the evidence just like the Justice Department heard all the evidence against the police in Ferguson. Both bent over backwards to make sure justice took place. These policeman are the real victims. Shame on the media and the pandering politicians who persecute them.
24
The Times and many others think that there is a systemic problem between white police officers and black people. They have stopped talking about solutions because they're all wrapped up in acquittals they attribute to injustice. Those who believe that even the innocent are guilty are saying that the problem is pervasive and unprovable. Some day it will dawn on these people that they are saying that the relations between blacks and the police have broken down once and for all and that the only solution is to segregate the police force, so that only black officers patrol black slums. This is a non-liberal solution to the liberal dilemma. But it is the only solution to the problem as liberals perceive it. Time to wake up and smell the coffee!
8
Three of the six officers charged are black. One of the white officers' trials ended with an 11-1 hung jury in favor of acquittal. The second ended in acquittal.
4
"Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, in a statement, asked residents to be patient as the legal process played out," Hmm - I would take that to mean that it's a certainty that one of these cops must be found guilty - or else.
9
To transform 'Violent" and "Militarised policing" in America will take decades, untold massive millions in Civil litigation, and finally full public disgust and City near bankruptcy. However, it will *not* occur today or tomorrow as per the entrenched mafia like police unions that need to be dissolved and reformed that support and even encourage this sick and perverted wild evil 'Cowboy" mayhem. Most if not all of these "Peace Officers" are simple minded power trippers, who are out of shape, out of date and even overweight. But then look at the politicians we have to deal with and the corporate criminals that have gone scot free as per our 2nd. Great Depression and looting of America.
1
I will be sickened if no one is held responsible for Mr. Gray's death. But this indictment was an overreach. Nero possibly should not have arrested Gray but Nero is not to blame for the other cops' wrongs. We do need to fix policing across the country and change many police forces' attitudes towards minorities.
5
Why doesn't the article mention that half of the cops charged in the Freddie Gray matter are African-Americans, the prosecutor is an African-American, and the judge who just acquitted Officer Nero is an African-American. Everyone trying to turn this into a referendum on race needs to take a step back and really look at the facts. Judge Williams did just that and reached a verdict. In America, we say justice was done.
What we have heard is all this speculation that someone must have done something to injure Freddie Gray's spinal cord. Maybe Freddie Gray did something to injure himself. Maybe someone else did something. One thing is sure; none of the people commenting on this was in the police van to know what really happened. That's why we have investigations and trials. Maybe the prosecutor rushed to charge everyone who touched Freddie Gray. Judge Williams took his time and made the tough decision.
What we have heard is all this speculation that someone must have done something to injure Freddie Gray's spinal cord. Maybe Freddie Gray did something to injure himself. Maybe someone else did something. One thing is sure; none of the people commenting on this was in the police van to know what really happened. That's why we have investigations and trials. Maybe the prosecutor rushed to charge everyone who touched Freddie Gray. Judge Williams took his time and made the tough decision.
49
The reason the readers do not know that the judge is African american and that three officers are African American does not fit the narrative of the NYT. Glad to see other readers see through the Times biases as well.
17
The remaining officer yet to be tried now have a blueprint for acquittal. Bench trials with no "emotional" juries. The prosecutor's office is toast.
3
You have to be sure you have your ducks in a row on reasonable doubt because you lose the holdout juror.
In the interest of justice and prosecutorial ethics and competence when will the Times demand that the Baltimore prosecutor be removed from office? Or does the Times support political persecutions, mob rule and show trials!
26
No one will be held responsible.
Few white cops are even charged, let alone convicted, in situations like this against African Americans.
Why should this be any different?
Few white cops are even charged, let alone convicted, in situations like this against African Americans.
Why should this be any different?
How do you know that one of the black cops didnt kill him?
19
Ross, because the narrative commonly held in America is that black cops can never kill blacks. Does that answer your question. Apparantly, racism still has a long way to be eradicated in America.
As in Cleveland, where two unarmed people were literally filled with lead by officers during a kind of "police riot", the trick is to get your case heard by a judge. Judges count votes. Prosecutors do too, and there's few votes to be had sending a cop to prison. The judge will rationalize his ruling with some tortured legal philosophy, as in Cleveland, but...really...it's all politics folks.
4
the judge is black and so is most of Baltimore. How does this help him get elected??
8
Depends on if judge is elected county wide, drawing in negative white votes if he found cop guilty.
1
Well, look, if we can't get justice in the courts, there is another way.
We all know there are too many cops in America making work and answering stupid calls.
Stop calling the cops for every stupid thing that bothers you.
If they are called a lot less, the crime statistics will show far fewer calls and logically, excess police will be laid off.
It's our fault there are so many cops preying on the public. Everyone keeps calling them for every stupid thing.
In the seventies, people had CB radios in their cars and would warn each other where the cops were so they wouldn't get stopped. Now everyone calls the police with their cellphones to tell the police everything wrong all the drivers around them are doing.
Really, give it a break. We don't need highly paid gun toting babysitters. Grow up everyone.
We all know there are too many cops in America making work and answering stupid calls.
Stop calling the cops for every stupid thing that bothers you.
If they are called a lot less, the crime statistics will show far fewer calls and logically, excess police will be laid off.
It's our fault there are so many cops preying on the public. Everyone keeps calling them for every stupid thing.
In the seventies, people had CB radios in their cars and would warn each other where the cops were so they wouldn't get stopped. Now everyone calls the police with their cellphones to tell the police everything wrong all the drivers around them are doing.
Really, give it a break. We don't need highly paid gun toting babysitters. Grow up everyone.
4
You don't find an innocent person guilty after a free and fair trial in an open courtroom because somebody must be held "accountable" for the tragic death of Freddie Gray. The person who is in fact and law responsible for the death of Freddie Gray should be found guilty if sufficient evidence of guilt is presented in a court of law. And if that doesn't happen, then no one will be found criminally liable. The New York Times of all media institutions should be able to make that clear. Stop feeding the hysteria. It does real damage to this country.
29
You're putting a lot of blind faith in our judicial system.
1
What alternative do you propose Trish? Arbitration?
Peter Moskos, a former Baltimore police officer who teaches at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said that Ms. Mosby had “overplayed her hand.”
----------------------------------
Charges were filed quickly in order to pander to the constituency of the mayor and the prosecutor, and to think that if a defendant dies, it is always the fault of the cop is to be foolish.
Media reports indicate that Gray's posture during an earlier interrogation was such that he may have had spinal cord injury. In fact, he appeared to have said so to the cop who asked him why he was sitting in that manner.
The only way we can stop a repeat of this type of incident is for the black community to police itself and live with consequences.
These criminal trials cost taxpayers pretty penny, and it must be criminal for politicians to waste taxpayer dollars to be politically correct and to be pandering.
----------------------------------
Charges were filed quickly in order to pander to the constituency of the mayor and the prosecutor, and to think that if a defendant dies, it is always the fault of the cop is to be foolish.
Media reports indicate that Gray's posture during an earlier interrogation was such that he may have had spinal cord injury. In fact, he appeared to have said so to the cop who asked him why he was sitting in that manner.
The only way we can stop a repeat of this type of incident is for the black community to police itself and live with consequences.
These criminal trials cost taxpayers pretty penny, and it must be criminal for politicians to waste taxpayer dollars to be politically correct and to be pandering.
20
The most frustrating thing about this case for me is that prosecutors have failed to establish the most basic facts about it. It is still apparently in doubt when and how Mr. Gray's spinal injury occurred. Did it occur during the chase and takedown? The video of his limp body being loaded into the van would seem to indicate so. Or, if he died within the van, was it due to his hurling himself against the side of the van, as another detainee inside described, or due to his sliding forward as a result of a sudden stop, as the prosecution claimed. I'm no expert, but it seems that the autopsy ought to have revealed the directionality of the compression on his spine, eliminating one of these scenarios. Yet I have not been able to find reference to such a finding in any of the news coverage.
8
From all I see Officer Nero is an excellent policeman. He should have no trouble
getting a job with another department. Why hang around Baltimore and suffer further abuse!
getting a job with another department. Why hang around Baltimore and suffer further abuse!
24
No, this case will not "renew debate". It will renew rioting.
10
Injustice to Freddy Grey happened long before the trial. It would have been when he was a young boy poisoned by lead, disadvantaged by a social system that underfunded public education and health, legislated minority segregation through housing policy and social services.
The police are not to blame for what the Maryland legislature did to his community through years of punitive policies allowing white people to live in lala land so they didn't have to face their Christian hypocrisy.
It reminds me of the bully who holds the scrawny kid's head under water while saying saying 'why are you drowning yourself". Hilarious to the bully but not so much to the kid suffocating.
Playing the victim card is the last resort of the poor, powerless and disenfranchised. For the police the only outlet for frustration with a political system that does nothing to support them or change the failed community rife with violence and crime is petty retaliation against the closest weak link. Not much different than a husband beating his wife because he lost his job.
To convict Officer Nero would be blaming the servant for the master's order.
The police are not to blame for what the Maryland legislature did to his community through years of punitive policies allowing white people to live in lala land so they didn't have to face their Christian hypocrisy.
It reminds me of the bully who holds the scrawny kid's head under water while saying saying 'why are you drowning yourself". Hilarious to the bully but not so much to the kid suffocating.
Playing the victim card is the last resort of the poor, powerless and disenfranchised. For the police the only outlet for frustration with a political system that does nothing to support them or change the failed community rife with violence and crime is petty retaliation against the closest weak link. Not much different than a husband beating his wife because he lost his job.
To convict Officer Nero would be blaming the servant for the master's order.
19
White politicians and Democrats have done to blacks what they did to the Native Americans crush their souls. Blacks continue to vote democratic and get for their vote, bad schools, crime ridden neighborhoods, no jobs, nothing but desperation and poverty. Time for blacks to change horses and see if anything gets better.
6
Clearly this all the fault of Republicans. Oh, I forgot, Baltimore has been run by democrats since the days of Nancy Pelosi's father.
10
And THIS is a NYT comment pick?!? This is why I have been seriously considering cancelling my NYT subscription. What a joke the paper has become!
5
I don't want to see anyone be convicted of a crime they didn't commit. With that said, a man's spinal cord just doesn't magically become injured and then dies. Somewhere from point A to point B the cops involved in this arrest have some kind of idea of how this happened. Also, you aren't a good cop when you protect the other bad cops and act more like a gang rather than police officers.
8
"The verdict is likely to renew debate over whether anyone will be held responsible for Mr. Gray's death." (NYT subhead line)
Possibly now we can begin to come to the realization that Mr. Gray, by ignoring police orders, feeling and struggling with the officers will begin to be seen as the principal person responsible for Mr. Gray's death.
Possibly now we can begin to come to the realization that Mr. Gray, by ignoring police orders, feeling and struggling with the officers will begin to be seen as the principal person responsible for Mr. Gray's death.
25
Yes, Mr. Whitney, if Mr. Gray was white, that might be the 'best practice'; but after reading the statistics about incarceration in the Baltimore area, Mr. Gray was literally 'running for his life'. There isn't anything entitled,"Driving while white", at least in California.
1
mikeinencinitas,
you do realize that blacks account for a disproportionately high crime in Baltimre?
you do realize that blacks account for a disproportionately high crime in Baltimre?
Your headline is misleading: "Judge Acquits Police Officer in Freddie Gray Arrest Case"
This was not the Freddie Gray Arrest trial, it was the Edward M. Nero murder trial.
You do know that Freddie Gray was the victim. Nero was the defendant.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
This was not the Freddie Gray Arrest trial, it was the Edward M. Nero murder trial.
You do know that Freddie Gray was the victim. Nero was the defendant.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
7
You are correct Rev. Camareno. And Edward Nero is innocent. Nero, however, is a victim of an overzealous prosecuter who abused her power for political gain.
12
Mr. Nero was not charged with murder. Rather some low level misdemeanors.
3
“The low man in the totem pole was found not guilty, but now we’re working our way up,” Ms. Hill-Aston said.
This is not over - if you would have read the whole article this was stated - stay tuned.
This is not over - if you would have read the whole article this was stated - stay tuned.
3
Justice 1
Race baiters of Baltimore 0
Race baiters of Baltimore 0
22
Everybody seems to, maybe even wants to, take a side in this. The tragedy is something more than Freddie Gray and his story. It's about us, our values, our sense of humanity. In the end it doesn't matter about black vs. white, or the converse. What kind of people are we? Has violence become so much of the American way of life; institutionalized, pervasive entertainment, as sure as sunrise and set. I'm getting old and this just won't fit in my hopes and so often tattered dreams of how we're supposed to be in relation to each other.
25
The facts of this case are not well understood. Those who think they know what happened are filling in a lot of blanks with speculation. You can't convict anyone based on speculation. Clearly, there should have been a thorogh investigation before anyone was indicted.
27
One officer has been acquitted and a mistrial declared for the other after a jury could not reach a verdict. There are four defendants, including three African-American officers, with trials scheduled, and the officer already tried subject to retrial. Best to reserve judgment on anything until those charges are resolved.
8
Justice apparently does still exist in an America being overrun by militant Leftists with political agendas! Freddie Gray was a drug using, drug peddling insurance scam artist who, according to the other arrestee in the police van that day, Donta Allen, sounded like he was intentionally trying to injure himself.
It's ironic that the "pro-science" Left pointedly won't believe that someone can indeed break their own neck. It happens more than one would think, and if anyone on the Left so cares to watch, even professional athletes do it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cfPr-D_4iY
Once again, the Left has again chosen a very flimsy case to be outraged about.
It's ironic that the "pro-science" Left pointedly won't believe that someone can indeed break their own neck. It happens more than one would think, and if anyone on the Left so cares to watch, even professional athletes do it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cfPr-D_4iY
Once again, the Left has again chosen a very flimsy case to be outraged about.
25
Oh ya. Jump in there and get your face on TV for 3 seconds for what? This cop never should have been charged to start with. His only contact with Gray was to hand him his inhaler.
18
It may be very hard to convict a group of people, whose actions, taken together, resulted in a man's death, but taken individually, may not have. It took all of them acting independently with an unconscionable lack of judgement to cause Freddie Gray's death, but it will be hard to prove that any one individual was responsible.
That will put responsibility for Freddie Gray's death squarely on the Baltimore police department, for fostering and allowing the kind of reckless and compassionless behavior that ultimately resulted in a needless death. It may not pass the definition of homicide for any given officer - that remains to be seen - but it is clearly the result of unprofessional behavior that the department either was too incompetent to notice or turned a blind eye towards.
They need to clean house.
That will put responsibility for Freddie Gray's death squarely on the Baltimore police department, for fostering and allowing the kind of reckless and compassionless behavior that ultimately resulted in a needless death. It may not pass the definition of homicide for any given officer - that remains to be seen - but it is clearly the result of unprofessional behavior that the department either was too incompetent to notice or turned a blind eye towards.
They need to clean house.
7
Do you think the NYT would have failed to mention the judge's race if he (the judge) were white?
35
MS Mosley should have to go to jail for the same amount of time as each of the defendants on bread and water!
17
When you drive past a cop on the side of the road, do you wave hello as you go by or do you quickly look at your speedometer and slow down and not look at him?
It's them and us.
No one wants to be a Freddie Gray.
It's them and us.
No one wants to be a Freddie Gray.
6
Reading the comments speaks volumes about our neighbors, doesn't it ?
Can you believe that some, apparently more than a few, have no issue with the cold-blooded killing of a 25 year old man, by several "peace officers", who are sworn to protect and serve the people who pay their salaries.
It's like a bad horror movie, not believable, except it's 100% real.
Can you believe that some, apparently more than a few, have no issue with the cold-blooded killing of a 25 year old man, by several "peace officers", who are sworn to protect and serve the people who pay their salaries.
It's like a bad horror movie, not believable, except it's 100% real.
4
So as usual many obviously white commenters get on here and say a crime wasn't committed, the prosecutor was biased Yada, Yada, Yada. So it's perfectly ok to arrest this guy for "fleeing a police officer", throws him cuffed and with his leg dragging (maybe his spine was already damaged) in the back of a police van without securing him to a seat belt (as they are legally required to do) , ignore his repeated screams for help then when his spine snaps and destroy his ability to breath, claim ignorance. And cops can act like that without consequences. No other professionals with serious reposing liters can act like
that. Can your pilot, your bus driver, your truck diver on the road, your doctors, your nurses act like that, kill a customer and get away with it?
that. Can your pilot, your bus driver, your truck diver on the road, your doctors, your nurses act like that, kill a customer and get away with it?
8
When will the public learn? The plain simple fact is that cops ARE above the law. They get away with murder, literally. It is not a matter of race. All cops get away with everything, regardless of their race. All cops get away with everything, regardless of the race of their victim. For cops, this truly is a lawless society.
The prosecutors protect the cops. The judges protect the cops. The so-called good cops protect the bad cops by their silence or by lying for them.
The prosecutors protect the cops. The judges protect the cops. The so-called good cops protect the bad cops by their silence or by lying for them.
5
having been robbed by people of color (and never the police) I would worry about the former, not latter in terms of the committing of crime.
Truly there are no words to describe properly what this American nation has become.
When police officers, "peace officers" ( how sad is that), together in the back of a van, decide that the man they just illegally arrested, should be abused until he is unconscious, or begging for mercy, or dead, and feel no remorse, or empathy, it tells us that "we the remaining decent people" have separated ourselves from the thing which supposedly sets us apart from other animals, pure savagery, and a desire to hurt whomever.
The judge, the "peace officers", the pundits, and indeed "we the incredibly moronic people" are all equally responsible.
And lest anyone dare opine, "how dare he", let me educate you, and tell you that I've known both good and bad, really bad, "peace officers",, and observed both as they performed their "duty"; the decent reasonable officers understand they are interacting with other humans, while the "bad" officers, treat these humans as if they are evil incarnate, never understanding that they themselves are the evil they want to destroy.
If there be a God, he or she is dust in the wind, putting himself or herself light years away from us.
When police officers, "peace officers" ( how sad is that), together in the back of a van, decide that the man they just illegally arrested, should be abused until he is unconscious, or begging for mercy, or dead, and feel no remorse, or empathy, it tells us that "we the remaining decent people" have separated ourselves from the thing which supposedly sets us apart from other animals, pure savagery, and a desire to hurt whomever.
The judge, the "peace officers", the pundits, and indeed "we the incredibly moronic people" are all equally responsible.
And lest anyone dare opine, "how dare he", let me educate you, and tell you that I've known both good and bad, really bad, "peace officers",, and observed both as they performed their "duty"; the decent reasonable officers understand they are interacting with other humans, while the "bad" officers, treat these humans as if they are evil incarnate, never understanding that they themselves are the evil they want to destroy.
If there be a God, he or she is dust in the wind, putting himself or herself light years away from us.
3
Did you read any of the real facts of the case, before you commented?The criminal arrested had a lengthy record, the officer who was cleared had no contact with the criminal except to hand him his inhaler. Instead of examingin the FACTS,Mosby decided to charge any police officer within reach of the arrest. Fortunately for all, the law states that a crime must be proven by evidence and facts, not feelings...
29
When will there be justice for Edward Nero and Darren Wilson? Both men did nothing wrong and were 100% exonerated! However, their names and careers were ruined by overzealous state and federal prosecuters, in addition to the media and so called "civil rights" leaders.
Nero and Wilson are American citizens and are deserving of social justice. Who will provide it for them?
Nero and Wilson are American citizens and are deserving of social justice. Who will provide it for them?
66
Did you read the article? This officer was charged with unlawful arrest, since Freddie Grey had not done anything illegal which is a clear violation of the 4th amendment.
1
Gray's family was already given millions. That should not have happened, but in doing so, the city invites more of these stories and outcomes. The racism is blatant, but it's not white on black.
1
Officer Nero's only crime, in common with Officer Darren Wilson, was Policing While White.
85
but the NY Times does nothing but emphasize white cop on black perp activities. It even continued calling Michael brown "gentle giant" well after what happened became abundantly clear.
How about holding Mr. Gray responsible for his own death?
32
Again, Mr. Gray was literally 'running for his life' at the time he was first seen by the two arresting officers he was simply walking in the general area; after being hailed by the 2 officers apparently Mr. Gray recognized his immediate mortality and vulnerability and he took off running; if he is guilty of anything, its not being in good enough health to outrun overzealous patrol officers. Fight or flight.
1
The worst that can happen to a police officer who is involved in the death of a suspect is either a reprimand or firing. That's the situation in the current political climate. And police officers are well aware of this.
12
Howie, they don't even get fired. They are instead rewarded with a very long paid vacation while the phoney "investigation" of their killings or abuse takes place. After the inevitable "exoneration" they have to come off vacation and go back to work (that is their "punishment")
3
As a society I thought we had passed the era of race based anti-African-American prosecutions by politically ambitious prosecutors. The fact that the Baltimore prosecutor is black and pandering to a black community makes her actions no more correct. Most of the Freddie Gray cases are as baseless as the case against officer Nero and are a disgrace
51
Perfect example of why and when you take a bench trial.
13
The appropriateness of this verdict can only be weighed in light of the applicable law and facts. Most important is whether the requisite intent was proven. When a police officer is charged with assault on a suspect, the law requires that the officer could not reasonably (even if mistakenly) have believed that his conduct was warranted. To convict here, the government was required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Nero did not call a medic and did not buckle Gray's seat belt, not because of negligence, but because he specifically intended to injure Gray. Notwithstanding general allegations of police giving handcuffed defendants a rough ride, proving this beyond a reasonable doubt requires specif evidence to this effect. You can say that it's obvious, but that's clearly not enough. You can say that the police engage in a conspiracy of silence, but that is not enough. Bottom line, the assumption that the police regularly mistreat defendants falls far shy of proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Nero and his colleagues were playing a deadly game. And so you are left with the question whether the police are generally sadistic liars intent on injuring those they arrest or whether they negligently use excessive force in many cases. Most people think they know the answer. And they are repeatedly surprised by trial outcomes. Those familiar with the facts and the law are seldom surprised.
12
If I was a cop I'd pay to have you on my jury. You cannot see the forest for the trees. Perfect for acquittal.
3
The standard is what the standard is. You are the one missing the forest for the trees. The law is not what you want it to be.
Sadly, this case is an example of how people want revenge, not justice. Two serious things occurred in this sad chain of events. First, Freddie Gray was brutalized by those sworn to protect him. Second, a young, inexperienced, politically motivated prosecutor filed charges, not based upon the available evidence, but to appease others who see every event as evidence of a pattern of unjustified violence against African-Americans, regardless of whether that event IS an example of unjustified violence against a person of color. My sympathy to the family and friends of Freddie Gray, first for their suffering and, second, for the false promise of peace from those looking to exploit his suffering.
15
An African American judge with a long history of civil rights cases and judgments has decided that there was no evidence of malfeasance on the part of the police officer who was excoriated and convicted in the mainstream media. The Times and other liberal newspapers. Bleeding heart liberals and like minded Democrats who are always blaming the police for racism and every manner of discrimination are left to wonder why the judge decided in the favor of the police officer. Maybe it is because the police officer acted correctly.
79
Freddie Gray's spine, if you look at the video, appears to have been broken long before he was in the van. I guess this defendant had nothing to do with that, but Freddie Gray, however troubled he may have been, did not kill himself, nor did he deserve to die for whatever reason the police had for going after him. We have seen over and over and over again, the horrifying results of militarized, out-of-control police brutality, mostly inflicted on people of color who live near or at the bottom of our society. If the man exonerated today had nothing to do with Freddie's death, he deserved to be acquitted. I hope, however, that whoever severed Freddie Gray's spine and brutalized him, are prosecuted and convicted as he or they should be. if not, we are certainly no longer able to brag about being the land of the free and home of the brave.
10
Freddie Gray was complicit in his own death.
23
It seems clear that "manslaughter" which does not imply intent was committed by the Baltimore police resulting in the death of yet another young African-American man. The question for this layperson is: Were the officers improperly charged or the prosecution improperly conducted? The same verdict keeps on ringing out across America whether it is Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and now Freddie Gray--a black youth or man dies clearly at the hands of the police, but no one's guilty. Simple justice is being denied leaving the stench of bias and bigotry. It seems that there are two systems of justice at play: one for the police and others of wealth and power; and one for everyone else. The police may be literally "getting away with murder," but the criminal justice system is "guilty" of malpractice.
5
It used to be called the waffle ride. An officer handcuffs you and puts you in back seat without a seat belt. Then stops short a few times so that your face ends up against the metal fence-like barrier thst separates the front and back seat. It's a known tactic. Leaving a waffle like imprint on your face. Freddy was purposely not belted into the back of thst van.
8
So your point is? I did not know of this tactic, but then I've lived my life obeying the laws of our nation.
7
Everybody should do what I did – move to a small, lily-white Southern town. I vote for every Republican candidate in every election. I stopped contributing to liberal causes. I let my memberships lapse in all the do-gooding organizations. I no longer care that the air is becoming foul, that the streams, rivers, and lakes are becoming putrid, and that the land is becoming polluted. I don’t care that corporations have unlimited license to overcharge and discriminate. I can live with that. The major problems will only arise after I’m deceased. Let the younger generations deal with them. I am sorry for Mr. Freddy Gray. But there have been thousands like him before, and there will be thousands like him in future. He and his ilk are the collateral damage of describing a 6% unemployment rate as “full employment.” And what am I anyway – my brother’s keeper?
10
George, do you also consider Reginald Denny your brother? He was the white who was pulled out of his truck by a crowd by black gang members and almost beaten to death during the Rodney King LA riots. What about the pogrom of the Koreans during the same riots?
It is time for the NYT to hold the electronic media responsible for journalistic malpractice. They could care less if every city burns in America-they can blame it on Black Lives Matter. cable news got it wrong again. O.J, Casey Anthony. Ferguson. CNN, The Malaysian Airline Channel got to host Presidential debates? They can even get Malaysian Airline disaster right. As an Elizabeth Warren liberal, the anti-cop bias is outrageous. You don't have to be conservative to notice it. They have to deal with the opiod epidemic. Zero political leadership, and none by the media. What else is new? By the way, what ever happened to the League of Woman Voters sponsoring a debate? Have women been pushed to the sidelines?
9
Garbage. No other profession get away with as much as the police. If the military acted like many police officers they would be shooting civilians in the street. We the white majority excuse them because the do their worse stuff usually to minorities.
4
The NYT is just as complicit in stirring up strife as any other entity.
6
The very act of Marilyn Mosby bringing full charges to all involved was acting exactly like Ms. Pilot washing her hands before the crowds that were looking for blood. A short while from now those that wish to destroy will be given space to do so.
8
It's a stretch to say officer Nero is criminally responsible for Freddie Gray's death because he arrested him when he shouldn't have. The question here should be how to discipline officers who make improper arrests, even when the consequences aren't so serious.
3
Indeed. But that would take thinking and action and not headlines.
3
Police are dangerous predators with guns.
This death was likely to happen as the gang of cops descended on the helpless unarmed prey.
This death was likely to happen as the gang of cops descended on the helpless unarmed prey.
5
Hehe not quite. Police are never dangerous to non-threatening people, and Freddie Gray was armed with a knife. Impoverished neighborhoods with high levels of drugs and gangs are actually the dangerous places with guns.
17
Don't call 911 when someone breaks into your house or accosts you on the street. The "dangerous predators" who respond may consider you a "helpless unarmed prey".
9
D.S. Cops are roving gangs that kill people. Case in point; four NYPD secret police roving around the Bronx, stopped and executed Amadou Diallo with over forty bullets in his own doorway.
Cops are very dangerous roving gangs of armed predators.
The cops skated, but not in the public's mind.
Cops are very dangerous roving gangs of armed predators.
The cops skated, but not in the public's mind.
Do you really want my thoughts on this story?
Well, the thought crossed my mind about a strange scene in a movie about an old time cowboy who just couldn't accept the new society we have become.
He was riding his horse along the dirt shoulder of a remote highway and along came a police car with his lights whirring and his siren blasting trying to pull over that man on his horse.
Doesn't that say so much about how absurd and totalitarian this nation has become?
Police state ain't the word for it. It's them and us.
Well, the thought crossed my mind about a strange scene in a movie about an old time cowboy who just couldn't accept the new society we have become.
He was riding his horse along the dirt shoulder of a remote highway and along came a police car with his lights whirring and his siren blasting trying to pull over that man on his horse.
Doesn't that say so much about how absurd and totalitarian this nation has become?
Police state ain't the word for it. It's them and us.
5
So who will now pay for the falsely accused Baltimore Police officer, Nero? Falsely accused [by a rogue state prosecutor, a corrupt indigenous urban people's mayor, and a racially pliable DOJ that was directed by our first constitutional scholar President] of a crime that never occurred in the first place.
Who will now pay? Hmmmm?
Who will now pay? Hmmmm?
51
Just whitewash it like the verdict.
2
The so called falsely accused officer will report for his negligence to God. There was an episode of the twilight zone where a business man negligently ran a teenager over with his car and fled the scene. Needless to say the episode ended with the car self driving the business man to the police station to confess his negligence.
1
The DOJ had nothing to do with the prosecution of this officer in state court.
good riddance, Freddie Gray was mentally ILL, it's no way one can conclude with certainty that this police officer is guilty. Appealing to emotions vs logic and facts seems to be the way of society today, it is a pathetic display of in competence and emotional reasoning which by itself is a cognitive distortion.
19
Like the rest of us, the only thing I know about the Gray case is what I have read. Based upon that, there was clearly no case against Officer Nero because he simply did not commit any crime. Arresting somebody who MAYBE should not have been arrested is not and never has been a crime. It is at most a civil suit.
The death of a subject in police custody does not automatically equate to the commission of a crime. It is entirely possible that none of the other 5 officers committed any provable crimes.
The death of a subject in police custody does not automatically equate to the commission of a crime. It is entirely possible that none of the other 5 officers committed any provable crimes.
120
In fact, Mosby dropped her charges of false arrest before this case went to trial.
6
And that, Alan, makes you feel better, even though a man died, a 25 year old man, handcuffed and shackled, in the back of a van, having done nothing wrong, and be abused until he is comatose, and eventually dead, killed by "peace officers", who are sworn to "protect and serve".
See, that's the point, "protect and serve", means just that, which clearly indicates death should not be the result of any police action.
I could tell myself you are simply not understanding what is done to minorities, in this nation, but this time I won't, and tell you instead that like many, in these times, you have no empathy.
See, that's the point, "protect and serve", means just that, which clearly indicates death should not be the result of any police action.
I could tell myself you are simply not understanding what is done to minorities, in this nation, but this time I won't, and tell you instead that like many, in these times, you have no empathy.
2
Alan
How would YOU feel about being arrested who “MAYBE should not have been arrested?” You don’t feel that is a crime?
You would be SCREAMING for a lawyer and if you had ended up with a severed spinal cord..well that wouldn’t be a crime either?
As an ER doc who was married to a big strong cop, I have seen a LOT of police brutality up close. It exists...that’s why these guys go into policing. Everyone feels they are above the law! They have the guns and the authority and many wield it BADLY just because they can!
Every day I saw terrible abuse that never fit the crime. I was in the SWAT car with my husband when 5 SWAT cars pulled over two “fags” for a rolling stop at a stop sign in a deserted neighborhood. These cops took turn doing knee drops on these “queers” from the hoods of their cars with the subjects prone on the street. If I hadn’t rushed in and stopped it, they would have died!
So many naive people making comments. You have NO idea what goes on in the streets. Dying from a made up reason to stop a guy on a bike is just outrageous. America is such a violent culture, but if it only happens to black people..well so what!
How would YOU feel about being arrested who “MAYBE should not have been arrested?” You don’t feel that is a crime?
You would be SCREAMING for a lawyer and if you had ended up with a severed spinal cord..well that wouldn’t be a crime either?
As an ER doc who was married to a big strong cop, I have seen a LOT of police brutality up close. It exists...that’s why these guys go into policing. Everyone feels they are above the law! They have the guns and the authority and many wield it BADLY just because they can!
Every day I saw terrible abuse that never fit the crime. I was in the SWAT car with my husband when 5 SWAT cars pulled over two “fags” for a rolling stop at a stop sign in a deserted neighborhood. These cops took turn doing knee drops on these “queers” from the hoods of their cars with the subjects prone on the street. If I hadn’t rushed in and stopped it, they would have died!
So many naive people making comments. You have NO idea what goes on in the streets. Dying from a made up reason to stop a guy on a bike is just outrageous. America is such a violent culture, but if it only happens to black people..well so what!
Everyone has an opinion on the case, but their knowledge of the facts is an inch deep. Credit Judge Williams for making a sound ruling.
29
One acquitted and five to quickly follow.
Mosby pandered to her constituency and helped play the race card with the Mayor, Councilmembers et al.
Let them now reap the contumely ranted against these innocent officers by a misbegotten citizenry.
Mosby pandered to her constituency and helped play the race card with the Mayor, Councilmembers et al.
Let them now reap the contumely ranted against these innocent officers by a misbegotten citizenry.
37
Following an arrest for nothing, w/the DC police informing me they were going to give me an 'attitude adjustment,' they took me to the station, handcuffed me to a chair and beat me, then tossed me, handcuffed, into the back of a paddy wagon and drove me all over DC for an hour while I struggled - without use of my arms - to remain upright, trying not to crash to the floor so I wouldn't break my face or other parts of my anatomy, suffer a concussion or even fatal head injury.
This was 1992. I was a 40 year old woman, 5'1" weighing about 100 pounds. A police officer had got mad at me when I approached asking for help (I'd been mugged by 3 people on a city street) and that was the result. I understood their little 'drive around' was an attempt to physically hurt me - the earlier beating in full view of everyone in the station house was proof of that - everyone in the station had enjoyed and encouraged the beating, including the Sergeant.
In their rage, disrespect for their job and savage stupidity, they might have killed me.
Cops exactly like this did kill Freddie Gray. Dragging an injured man screaming for help and hurling him onto the floor of a paddy wagon to be tossed around on a long reckless ride was no accident.
They tried to physically hurt him, an intentional act, resulting in his death.
The judge is dead wrong.
This was 1992. I was a 40 year old woman, 5'1" weighing about 100 pounds. A police officer had got mad at me when I approached asking for help (I'd been mugged by 3 people on a city street) and that was the result. I understood their little 'drive around' was an attempt to physically hurt me - the earlier beating in full view of everyone in the station house was proof of that - everyone in the station had enjoyed and encouraged the beating, including the Sergeant.
In their rage, disrespect for their job and savage stupidity, they might have killed me.
Cops exactly like this did kill Freddie Gray. Dragging an injured man screaming for help and hurling him onto the floor of a paddy wagon to be tossed around on a long reckless ride was no accident.
They tried to physically hurt him, an intentional act, resulting in his death.
The judge is dead wrong.
14
YEAH !!!... That BLACK Judge is a RACIST !!!!
15
I'm sorry. I just find this post incredibly difficult to believe. and you didn't sue the police. even in 1992 that was commonplace.
11
@bored critic
I sued the police and won. The officers called to testify in my case - including the sargent - perjured themselves. 2 officers couldn't be called - one had been removed in a judicial proceeding, another vanished after stealing from the property room. These were not a bunch of upstanding hero cops.
I'd never been arrested before, have never been arrested since. There were no charges against me. I have no criminal history.
Officers in the same station did something similar to a neighbor several months before. A professional person who was bonded, he was handcuffed and beaten after he was pulled over for a broken tail light. No charges against him and he'd never been arrested before or since.
In the immediate aftermath, dozens of people told me the Washington police had beaten, harassed, threatened or otherwise abused them, usually for reasons unknown & not involving criminal activity. All of them were white professional people none of whom were involved in criminal activity, none of whom had ever been arrested.
People automatically assume those in these situations are black, are violent, are criminals, 'deserve it' somehow. I would have assumed that - before it happened to me. Poor people and minorities have no legal recourse when this is done to them because lawyers don't want to represent them.
Most people have no clue how poorly police behave, how little they control themselves when they think they can get away with abusing people.
I sued the police and won. The officers called to testify in my case - including the sargent - perjured themselves. 2 officers couldn't be called - one had been removed in a judicial proceeding, another vanished after stealing from the property room. These were not a bunch of upstanding hero cops.
I'd never been arrested before, have never been arrested since. There were no charges against me. I have no criminal history.
Officers in the same station did something similar to a neighbor several months before. A professional person who was bonded, he was handcuffed and beaten after he was pulled over for a broken tail light. No charges against him and he'd never been arrested before or since.
In the immediate aftermath, dozens of people told me the Washington police had beaten, harassed, threatened or otherwise abused them, usually for reasons unknown & not involving criminal activity. All of them were white professional people none of whom were involved in criminal activity, none of whom had ever been arrested.
People automatically assume those in these situations are black, are violent, are criminals, 'deserve it' somehow. I would have assumed that - before it happened to me. Poor people and minorities have no legal recourse when this is done to them because lawyers don't want to represent them.
Most people have no clue how poorly police behave, how little they control themselves when they think they can get away with abusing people.
3
Justice has been served. In fact this officer should never have been charged in the first place. Unfortunately an overly jealous inexperienced prosecutor kowtowed to the screeching Black Lies Matter protesters and ignored the simple fact that the police officers were innocent. Perhaps after all 6 are exonerated she can be brought up on charges of being incompetent and be disbarred from practicing law.
78
How can they all be innocent? A man was killed in police custody. Who answers for that ??
1
trish, could it be the man who killed him (if any)?
I agree whole-heartedly with the decision. The charges should have never been brought. The incompetent prosecutor was looking to inflict a political lynching on the cops, not that I am enamored with police brutality. The case was never about justice but an appeal to the street mobs. I want justice for all parties involved. Mr. Gray, who has already received his recompense for a life foolishly lived, was a thug guilty of poisoning his own community. I will never understand why the black community deifies criminals and miscreants who help keep our race downtrodden. I wonder why there are never any protests about black CPAs, doctors, lawyers, and other successful professionals who are killed by police. Ooooh! That's right: They are leading responsible lives devoid of lawless acts that cause contact with law enforcement. I guess the eternally aggrieved victim and entitlement minded blacks want to obfuscate the fact that we are committing self genocide by proclaiming that limited police killings of blacks is our communities' primary problem.
56
Bravo, sir. As a professional of color (albeit a different one which also struggles with drug and violence issues) I am in full agreement, as is the majority of my community, which is why we're seeing far more economic mobility and movement into the middle class. While I'm saddened by cases of excessive violence, I find it far more tragic that so many of our young people are held back by a culture of ignorance and the "bigotry of low expectations" that produces nothing but the same, generation after generation. Enough. We have bigger problems to solve and more promising young people to help than the drug dealers killing their own and paying an "unfair" price for it.
7
Message from the court: Move along, nothing to see here.
Message to the police: Do whatever you want, we always got your back, we know you will insist on it anyway.
Message to the police: Do whatever you want, we always got your back, we know you will insist on it anyway.
11
Something very fishy here. The article's author accepts the state/prosecution's contention that Mr. Gray's back was broken while he was riding in the police wagon. But Mr. Gray, shown in the released videos of his arrest, is clearly in agony long before being placed in the wagon, suggesting that his back was already broken.
And, with no scientific evidence, but only an application of common sense, I find it impossible to accept the proposition that anyone could have his back broken in a vehicle that was not hit by another vehicle, did not hit a large stationary object, and did not roll over.
And, with no scientific evidence, but only an application of common sense, I find it impossible to accept the proposition that anyone could have his back broken in a vehicle that was not hit by another vehicle, did not hit a large stationary object, and did not roll over.
10
Police say Gray always screamed and faked injuries when arrested. The video clearly shows Gray faking his injuries as the officers drag him to the van. Once there, he stops screaming, ands steps up onto the bumper of the van, looks back over his shoulder, and then steps into the van on his own power. The medical examiner says Gray could not have done this with a broken neck. The medical examiner also ruled the injury was consistent with the type of injury a handcuffed man might have received from a fall in the back of a moving van. vall Gr
6
Police say Freddy always screamed, do they?
I see the video differently than you do. I don't see the step up to the bumper, the look over his shoulder (although his head was lolling), and the step into the van. I see the officers propelling him during every second of his movement.
And I suggest that the emergency room doctor's opinion, who commented above, that the cops probably broke his neck when they took him down next to the wall, should be considered.
The point of which I'm most convinced is that Freddy didn't break his own neck.
I see the video differently than you do. I don't see the step up to the bumper, the look over his shoulder (although his head was lolling), and the step into the van. I see the officers propelling him during every second of his movement.
And I suggest that the emergency room doctor's opinion, who commented above, that the cops probably broke his neck when they took him down next to the wall, should be considered.
The point of which I'm most convinced is that Freddy didn't break his own neck.
2
I think that's why Mosby wanted a trial, to attempt to get some answers.
In his ruling, Judge Williams found that Officer Nero was not present when Officer Miller decided to arrest Freddie Gray. Nero had gone to retrieve Miller’s bicycle when Miller decided to arrest and handcuff Gray. The judge said, “When the detention morphed into an arrest, the defendant was not present. As such, the court rejects the state's theory that the defendant was involved in the arrest.” Judge Williams also ruled that Nero was justified in assuming another officer would decide whether to buckle Gray’s seatbelt. He said, “As to the reasonableness of not taking steps to seat belt Mr. Gray, this court finds that a reasonable officer in the defendant's position, and in particular the defendant, could reasonably assume that an officer, superior or not, in the back of the van would make a determination as to whether seat belting was appropriate under all the facts that that officer was aware of at that moment.” The latter part of the ruling would probably resolve all the officers with the exception of the van driver.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/freddie-gray/bs-md-ci-williams...
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/freddie-gray/bs-md-ci-williams...
12
Freddie Gray was clearly severely injured in the video way before entering the van. That he rapidly decomposed, entered a coma and died (probably from stopping breathing) very shortly thereafter points strongly towards a higher spinal injury, cervical most likely. That's the neck.
In reviewing the ACTUAL video of Mr. Gray's take-down by the police, an officer can be clearly seen with his knee on Mr. Gray's back, exerting pressure. It takes a tremendous blow to break a man's spine. It is also obvious that he is in pain - not feigned - and cannot use his legs when they drag him to the van. It seems fairly clear that the police broke his vertebrae with their knees while he was on the ground, that the broken vertebrae partially severed his spine while he was still on the ground (hence why he was screaming while on the ground and his legs were limp while he was dragged to the van) and that the broken vertebrae severed the remainder of the 80% while he was cuffed face down in the van. The video clearly shows loss of lower extremity function as he is dragged to the van, but he is talking. It takes some time for the swelling to begin to compromise higher functions like breathing and vocalizing, then spinal shock, coma, vascular collapse.
The fact that Freddie Gray was not able to see a courtroom is clearly a failure of the justice system on Freddie Gray's life. The Bike cops were the trial, jury and executioner.
In reviewing the ACTUAL video of Mr. Gray's take-down by the police, an officer can be clearly seen with his knee on Mr. Gray's back, exerting pressure. It takes a tremendous blow to break a man's spine. It is also obvious that he is in pain - not feigned - and cannot use his legs when they drag him to the van. It seems fairly clear that the police broke his vertebrae with their knees while he was on the ground, that the broken vertebrae partially severed his spine while he was still on the ground (hence why he was screaming while on the ground and his legs were limp while he was dragged to the van) and that the broken vertebrae severed the remainder of the 80% while he was cuffed face down in the van. The video clearly shows loss of lower extremity function as he is dragged to the van, but he is talking. It takes some time for the swelling to begin to compromise higher functions like breathing and vocalizing, then spinal shock, coma, vascular collapse.
The fact that Freddie Gray was not able to see a courtroom is clearly a failure of the justice system on Freddie Gray's life. The Bike cops were the trial, jury and executioner.
11
Many,many people resist being arrested,dragging their feet and screaming and yelling,especially those who have been there before or who feel persecuted. This is not unusual behavior. I have seen defendants being carried into the detention cells in the courthouse by four or five court officers because they do not want to go there.
Unless one was present at the scene of the arrest, one should hesitate to make assumptions about any part of this or any other incident.
Unless one was present at the scene of the arrest, one should hesitate to make assumptions about any part of this or any other incident.
16
The video shows Gray appears to "recover" once he reaches the van. He steps up into the van, pauses to look back over his shoulder as if to see if people are making videos, and them steps into the van, al on his own power. The medical examiner ruled he could not have done this with the injuries he subsequently sustained . Police say Freddie always put on a show when being arrested.
10
The video shows Gray stepping up and into the van one his own power, He pauses and looks back over his shoulder. The medical examiner said this would have been impossible with the type of injury he later sustained. The prosecutions concedes he wasn't injured when placed into the van.
5
I for one support law enforcement officers, every time I see a cop dragged into court because of some small infraction it galls me.
I agree the brutal, bully tactics of some cops is wrong, this small minority of cops makes it bad for the other decent cops doing their jobs.
I recently read in the Times an article concerning the growing murder count in American cities, our police are afraid to aggresively confront the low lifes and gang members due to fear. Fear of losing their pensions because they are being filmed and fear of being hauled before a liberal judge who will jail the cop, not the criminal.
Similar to the situation in Baltimore with Freddy. Everyone saw what happened next, the police allowed the city to burn. Body cameras, dash cameras all capture the worst situations. The heart pounding adrenaline filled chases that wind up with a cop overdoing it. I get it, no one wants to be smacked around, yet some of these street criminals need a good thumping to make them think twice the next time they decide to terrorize the weak and defenseless.
Who will these liberal judges call when they are being brutalized, a criminal, no a cop.
One last point, why on earth did Freedie's family win the lottery and get millions od dollars fpr his death. Apparently evidence was suppressed that Freddy had a history that included self injuries to blame on the police.
I agree the brutal, bully tactics of some cops is wrong, this small minority of cops makes it bad for the other decent cops doing their jobs.
I recently read in the Times an article concerning the growing murder count in American cities, our police are afraid to aggresively confront the low lifes and gang members due to fear. Fear of losing their pensions because they are being filmed and fear of being hauled before a liberal judge who will jail the cop, not the criminal.
Similar to the situation in Baltimore with Freddy. Everyone saw what happened next, the police allowed the city to burn. Body cameras, dash cameras all capture the worst situations. The heart pounding adrenaline filled chases that wind up with a cop overdoing it. I get it, no one wants to be smacked around, yet some of these street criminals need a good thumping to make them think twice the next time they decide to terrorize the weak and defenseless.
Who will these liberal judges call when they are being brutalized, a criminal, no a cop.
One last point, why on earth did Freedie's family win the lottery and get millions od dollars fpr his death. Apparently evidence was suppressed that Freddy had a history that included self injuries to blame on the police.
23
Liberal policies, our incredibly forthright and LIBERAL CONSTITUTION - freedom of speech is NOT a conservative ideal - is the ONLY reason you are even allowed to complain about liberals. I hope something happens to someone you care about someday that is unjust. Maybe then you'll finally get it. The system worked beautifully for this officer today. He wasn't the reason Freddie Gray died and he was acquitted. Isn't that good enough for you?
2
This reminds me of a Baltimore city cop, a friend of my wife who is also a police officer. He pulled over a known felon who was driving a stolen car and asked him to shut off the ignition. Instead he closed the window on the officer's arm and sped off dragging him. The officer was able to unholster his service weapon and shoot the suspect in the head, killing him. He was later indicted for murder and convicted by an all black jury. The officer was white. After two years in prison the verdict was overturned as a miscarriage of justice. The appeals court forced the state of Maryland to pay him unspecified damages and restore his position in the police department. He did not return to duty and later on I bought a car from him at a Toyota dealership. Now that was overzealous prosecution. The police have a difficult enough job without a prosecutor and district attorney's office trying to gain political laurels!
59
Was this covered by the NY Times? I don't recall reading about it, but I may have missed it as they cover so many verdicts that were overturned. Of course, I believe they were all black convictions. Hmmmm
This story--and so many others--just shows how broken the American justice system is, and how brutal the American police have become. Over here in Germany, cases like this are simply unthinkable. Of course, the police here also tend to be somewhat more authoritarian than the general population--that seems to go with the job--but I have NEVER, in 34 years, EVER heard of any cases where the German police arrested and abused unarmed suspects to the point where they died in custody, or even actively shot them to death (note: Freddie Gray was not even a suspect in any crime!).
No cases like Eric Garner, who was essentially sufffocated to death for the great crime of selling loose cigarettes. No cases like Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy shot down by police for playing with a toy weapon. No cases like Sandra Bland, who was arrested for a simple traffic violation and then found dead in her cell in Texas. No cases like the (white) man in Georgia who was apparently hallucinating due to drug use and was tased to death by the police.
Some Americans might think this is normal -- but it is not!! In Germany, we have minorities too. There are plenty of depressed, poor regions and "troubled" municipal areas. But there are no areas where the police can act with such impunity as they apparently can in America.
My heart goes out to the family of Freddie Gray -- I doubt that they will ever see justice for the killing of their son.
No cases like Eric Garner, who was essentially sufffocated to death for the great crime of selling loose cigarettes. No cases like Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy shot down by police for playing with a toy weapon. No cases like Sandra Bland, who was arrested for a simple traffic violation and then found dead in her cell in Texas. No cases like the (white) man in Georgia who was apparently hallucinating due to drug use and was tased to death by the police.
Some Americans might think this is normal -- but it is not!! In Germany, we have minorities too. There are plenty of depressed, poor regions and "troubled" municipal areas. But there are no areas where the police can act with such impunity as they apparently can in America.
My heart goes out to the family of Freddie Gray -- I doubt that they will ever see justice for the killing of their son.
151
What is the murder rate in those poor depressed and troubled municipal regions in Germany?
8
The message is: The Germans have always set a high standard for how to act humanely and we must try to emulate them. Not sure I can agree but I suppose some people might.
3
Fitting that the NYT moderators would chose this comment as particularly worthy as it fits the narrative they wish to believe, but it fairy tales and rainbows from my experience living in Germany. There is no requirment for chain of custody for evidence; no requirement for muliple subjects in a lineup (just show them one picture - Is this the man that attacked you?); at a German soccer game rival fans engaged in massive fights in the stands and the polizei just waded in with batons and German Shepards cleaning house. The Frankurt Airport 30 years ago had military walking around in full battle rattle and automatic weapons. I'd take Rikers Island any day over the German prisons I saw visiting soldiers held by they German authorities (under the SOFA, they had primary jurisdcition over soldiers who committed crimes against German citizens or off post). I could go on, but given this doesn't fit the neat NYT narrative on the Amercian judicial system, why waste my time as it will never see the light of day.
7
It is impossible that all of these deaths at the hands of police are all legal. That doesn't even pass the smell test. Something is rotten here and the more this happens the faster the backlash against police will begin. If the court will not hold police responsible then history tells us that the people will. Stop allowing police to murder.
16
I don't like either cops or civilians being killed, but the fact reamins, cops almost always skate while all citizens are usually found guilty, even some innocent civilians.
The Cops are getting bolder and more dangerous because they are rarely held to account for their crimes.
The Cops are getting bolder and more dangerous because they are rarely held to account for their crimes.
16
Very true Patrick. New York Magazine published an excellent article last year by Frank Serpico - who is still alive and says he still receives death threats from police officers to this day - where he said that back in the 60s and 70s when police would kill an unarmed person they would then plant a weapon on the dead guy but nowadays they don't even bother because they know they will get away with it.
2
Who's responsible for the death of Freddie Gray?
If we don't hold the police responsible for this crime, then the answer is going to be an unpopular one.
You and me.
If we don't hold the police responsible for this crime, then the answer is going to be an unpopular one.
You and me.
7
Dear Sera Stephen,
Heh, interesting, but I can't see how I'm responsible, or you, both of us live hundreds of miles away from Baltimore and never met Mr. Gray.
Now, holding Mr. Gray himself responsible, for his long criminal record and combative attitude toward the police, or his neighborhood, for being violently opposed to police and causing them to act brutally out of fear, that might be reasonable.
Heh, interesting, but I can't see how I'm responsible, or you, both of us live hundreds of miles away from Baltimore and never met Mr. Gray.
Now, holding Mr. Gray himself responsible, for his long criminal record and combative attitude toward the police, or his neighborhood, for being violently opposed to police and causing them to act brutally out of fear, that might be reasonable.
7
His record has nothing to do with the crime.
I state that his combative attitude towards the police might be considered reasonable.
In confrontation with someone who is opposed to the police, their job is to react civilly, meaning in proportion to the opposition. It’s the very definition of policing, as opposed to warfare. You don’t just get to kill them.
Do you wish to counter that Freddie Gray was a warrior? That's absurd. He was unarmed and the Police were in complete control of the situation.
Freddie Gray was murdered. The only question I have is: "Who is responsible"
I will accept some responsibility, because I allow my community to be policed by incompetents. At best.
You choose to blame Gray for his own murder.
I state that his combative attitude towards the police might be considered reasonable.
In confrontation with someone who is opposed to the police, their job is to react civilly, meaning in proportion to the opposition. It’s the very definition of policing, as opposed to warfare. You don’t just get to kill them.
Do you wish to counter that Freddie Gray was a warrior? That's absurd. He was unarmed and the Police were in complete control of the situation.
Freddie Gray was murdered. The only question I have is: "Who is responsible"
I will accept some responsibility, because I allow my community to be policed by incompetents. At best.
You choose to blame Gray for his own murder.
2
Time will tell. Who will be responsible to Freddie Gray's family?
3
I believe the Gray family has received the check that Freddie was working toward when he went to far accidentally. All the rest is just a show for the media.
6
If you had read the whole story, you would see that they got a payday of six million.
7
The taxpayers, for 6.5 million.
17
"Tessa Hill-Aston....remained hopeful that someone would eventually be held responsible for Mr. Gray’s death......" I think she means Mr. Gray is responsible for his own death.
8
We must stand against the idea that anything Freddie Gray did could justify his murder by those we entrust to keep order. And condemn those who tacitly signal their assent to the perquisite of brutality. The order these people strive to maintain is the social order that justifies such oppression on their behalf.
3
Why exactly should we stand against this idea? It's abundantly clear that a law-abiding citizen of any race or color has less a chance of being shot by police than they do of being hit by a car. All the SAT vocabulary in the world does not negate that. I stand for the idea that all citizens - be they of any color - are responsible for their actions and the consequences of them, even if those consequences are "unfair."
4
Ariel, it's implicit in your reply that non-law-abiding citizens may expect to be more likely to be shot. The right of a police officer to apprehend suspects and defend him or herself is not called into question. What is being called into question is whether officers may brutalize and kill suspects, even ones who struggle. In Freddie Gray's case there is ample evidence that the police were intent on teaching him a lesson and took him on a "nickel ride." That it is not justice. And that we, ourselves, have little to worry about is my point. Thank you for the opportunity to say that again more simply.
3
There is a bitter irony that the citizens featured in the video are demanding a conviction on scant evidence for revenge considering that one of their complaints is an overzealous court system that treats Blacks more harshly than whites. Their standard of "justice" is far less fair than the justice dispensed by the court system.
32
Let us leave it to the Lord to sort things out on Judgement Day. And He will. He most definitely will.
Deuteronomy 32:35 The Lord says, "Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly."
Deuteronomy 32:35 The Lord says, "Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly."
Yes, it strikes me He will have a few harsh words with Bill Clinton come the Judgement Day.
2
I guess we don’t need police or prosecutors then. The criminal justice system is just a big waste of taxpayers' money.
3
Responsibility for Freddie Gray's death does not mean murder or prison. I doubt anyone involved in Joan Rivers death will be tried for murder, but there is other, more appropriate punishment. Meanwhile, the Gray family has received million that Freddie was never going to earn. Nothing so became in life their his leaving it.
8
The technology exists to put small cameras on all police officers and to attach to anyone taken into custody. As soon as handcuffs are involved. These cameras should be always on, and video should be streamed contemporaneously and stored in the cloud long enough for any unresolved controversies to surface -- maybe a week. If wrongdoing is charged, the video file would provide credible evidence to resolve the dispute.
Distrust on both sides is so pervasive, and the stakes are so high, that a modest investment in monitoring activity is warranted. One good police officer who knows he will be vindicated by the evidence is more effective than two tentative ones.
Distrust on both sides is so pervasive, and the stakes are so high, that a modest investment in monitoring activity is warranted. One good police officer who knows he will be vindicated by the evidence is more effective than two tentative ones.
32
In the use of cameras during the death of a young man named Chase on a highway in Georgia written of here last week with an adjoining video view, showed that even with the camera, the cops merely spoke lies to the recording as the violence occurred.
During the killing of the knife wielding black man in Chicago viewed earlier, the police car with the camera approached the scene and veered the car to the right as he stopped and the cop who shot 16 bullets into the youth was out of view because of that maneuver.
The presence of those cameras will only be used to the cops advantage by the cops just as they use cameras during interrogations.
During the killing of the knife wielding black man in Chicago viewed earlier, the police car with the camera approached the scene and veered the car to the right as he stopped and the cop who shot 16 bullets into the youth was out of view because of that maneuver.
The presence of those cameras will only be used to the cops advantage by the cops just as they use cameras during interrogations.
7
Do you really believe that officers engaged in misconduct or potentially criminal activity will keep their cameras on? There are numerous documented cases of the cameras being turned off. Until we recover what has passed for democracy (if we can recover it, that is), the establishment enforcement apparatus will continue to behave as it has for far too long.
2
The technology infrastructure involved is not modest. At all. And believe that there are corporate interests waiting in the wings to capitalize on the pseudo-outrage and rake in billions when police departments are forced to purchase server space to store all these recordings.
2
This was an absolute farce of an indictment. It was an embarrassment that it even went to trial. Anyone paying attention knew an acquittal was coming as the judge basically ridiculed the prosecution's closing arguments as they were being made.
I feel sorry for the young officer whose life has been destroyed to appease an angry mob and advance political careers.
Although the charges against all 6 officers are dubious, the ones against Nero are the most ludicrous. Although you won't read about it in the media, it's clear that he and other white officers were indicted because indicting only the two officers most culpable (who were black) would not fully appease the mob. I'm glad the judge stopped this travesty before it went even further.
I feel sorry for the young officer whose life has been destroyed to appease an angry mob and advance political careers.
Although the charges against all 6 officers are dubious, the ones against Nero are the most ludicrous. Although you won't read about it in the media, it's clear that he and other white officers were indicted because indicting only the two officers most culpable (who were black) would not fully appease the mob. I'm glad the judge stopped this travesty before it went even further.
265
On the contrary, it's just another cop being let off the hook story.
8
Strange, there was no mention of you at the trial.
3
any suggestions on how his spinal cord was severed?
1
Baltimore - Majority Black city, run by Black mayor, a super majority of Black city counsel members, with a black district attorney, and a black police chief reacting to a case decided upon by a black judge. I guess race is not the issue here but rather people who want to make race an issue
176
What is your point? Your first sentence has nothing to do with anything. Gray is dead, not from natural causes.
6
David, apparently you have missed the public hue and cry over race based bias in everything from schools to policing. To be perfectly clear for your benefit, the presumption of race based bias is not at work in Baltimore though the BLM movement, popular press and local organizers have attempted to make it so.
8
There is no presumption. There is ample statistical evidence, ample confessional evidence, ample testimonial evidence, and ample videographical evidence. The only thing that blinds us to the evidence is our own willfulness.
3
This was a civil matter from the beginning never rising to a criminal compliant. Mayor not running for reelection D.A. should follow suit.
28
The laws and courts inconveniently keep getting in the ways of BLM's version of justice. But cheer up, isn't BLM and other liberals always happy when a murderer is exonerated?
28
"isn't BLM and other liberals always happy when a murderer is exonerated?"
But only when the murderer is a black man.
But only when the murderer is a black man.
11
Your trust of the law and the courts and the police are a direct result of you being lucky enough to have a history in which those institutions treated you and your parents and their parents and their parents fairly. Being lucky enough to have that incredible fortune when many others do not you can either chose to work to extend the same benefits to others or pretend that you have no such advantage.
4
This does not represent my or any other BLM supporter's view. It is a bogey man that serves to justify the violence done on behalf of those who are well served by the kind of order that privileges them and theirs.
2
It sounds like the misconduct took place within the police van, but not with the fact of arrest.
3
That may be true but as yet there has been no evidence of criminal misconduct presented even close to the legal standard of Beyond a Reasonable Doubt. I doubt that there will be.
4
Perhaps only black police officers should be assigned duties in black neighborhoods. And, only black judges should preside over cases involving black defendants. Then, minorities would have one less thing to gripe about.
52
If only black officers, prosecutors and judges supervised Wall St. we would have gotten ripped off.
Freddie Gray was no role model that made a positive contribution to his neighborhood. The police neglected to strap him in the transport vehicle. This is probably because he was not cooperating during his arrest. The police officers involved should have faced internal discipline. A show trial as a result of rioting is not the solution.
39
I'm so tired of hearing the he-w as s-no-angel argument. Nobody is supposed to die unless they're actually perceived to be threatening to injure or kill others, or have just done so and sre trying to escape. Nobody
10
The idea that only in being a role model that someone may avoid being murdered by the police is cynical. There is no justification for use of deadly force by a group to subdue an unarmed individual. This sort of mis-directive reasoning is sanctioned by biased persons who wish to maintain their societal superiority over the Other.
4
So - if my math is correct - the pandering populist pitchfork-crowd-leading City State's Attorney is now 0-2.
I await the rioting, destruction of personal property and looting to follow-on.
I await the rioting, destruction of personal property and looting to follow-on.
87
It's an uphill battle for the prosecution. Proof beyond a reasonable doubt is required in a court of law, and the only people who witnessed what's in the van are those who are charged. With only the police officer's version and circumstantial evidence as to what happened in the van, it's tough for the prosecution to prove what happened constituted murder or manslaughter.
(If only that same standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt were as scrupulously applied to the likes of Freddie Gray.)
(If only that same standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt were as scrupulously applied to the likes of Freddie Gray.)
44
The standard for an arrest is probable cause -- it is not the standard of reasonable doubt.
4
If you and I came out of a van and the third person in it was dead we would not stand a chance in court. What seems "reasonalble" to people is the sanctioning of lethal force against those they have as enemies.
2
@JD
Thanks for that, but you have missed my point. First, Freddie Gray himself will never get the benefit of a trial, as he is dead. When criminal suspects don't even make it to the court room alive, it really doesn't matter what standard of proof you have at trial. Second, I said the "likes of Freddie Gray." Having worked in the criminal justice system for a decade, I would say the standard of guilt tends to be pretty elastic depending on who the accused is.
Thanks for that, but you have missed my point. First, Freddie Gray himself will never get the benefit of a trial, as he is dead. When criminal suspects don't even make it to the court room alive, it really doesn't matter what standard of proof you have at trial. Second, I said the "likes of Freddie Gray." Having worked in the criminal justice system for a decade, I would say the standard of guilt tends to be pretty elastic depending on who the accused is.
1
Well for this particular officer, it's hard to see how he had any culpability in Mr. Gray's death. He arrested him, but apparently with reason. He wasn't driving the van, wasn't responsible for the rough ride or lack of seatbelts. I'm glad he's not being held responsible simply because he's an officer.
If nobody is sent to jail over Freddie Gray's death, I'd accept that too, although I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't. It sounds more like an accident than anything else; even though the van was making sudden maneuvers, probably to bounce the suspects around, who would predict that a rough ride would kill someone?
People will fume at the cops without considering the other side of things. The neighborhood was dangerous, and Freddie Gray himself had a long criminal record. In that neighborhood, someone is likely to get shot about every other day, or more often these days, and nearly none of those shootings will be by police.
If we want police to get a lot more brutal, the place to start is really with the neighborhoods they're patrolling. The brutality often comes from the fear generated by having to work in those areas as a target. Murders go unsolved in such areas all the time because neighbors refuse to work with police.
So rant and rail against the police all you like, but don't forget the real cause of the violence, if you can accept reality. And don't forget that if the flawed police simply stopped patrolling, deaths in those areas would be constant.
If nobody is sent to jail over Freddie Gray's death, I'd accept that too, although I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't. It sounds more like an accident than anything else; even though the van was making sudden maneuvers, probably to bounce the suspects around, who would predict that a rough ride would kill someone?
People will fume at the cops without considering the other side of things. The neighborhood was dangerous, and Freddie Gray himself had a long criminal record. In that neighborhood, someone is likely to get shot about every other day, or more often these days, and nearly none of those shootings will be by police.
If we want police to get a lot more brutal, the place to start is really with the neighborhoods they're patrolling. The brutality often comes from the fear generated by having to work in those areas as a target. Murders go unsolved in such areas all the time because neighbors refuse to work with police.
So rant and rail against the police all you like, but don't forget the real cause of the violence, if you can accept reality. And don't forget that if the flawed police simply stopped patrolling, deaths in those areas would be constant.
65
"who would predict that a rough ride would kill someone"
This is not the first time somebody has been killed or paralyzed in a "nickel ride" in Baltimore. It's a very predictable outcome - that's why there's a rule about strapping in arrestees.
This is not the first time somebody has been killed or paralyzed in a "nickel ride" in Baltimore. It's a very predictable outcome - that's why there's a rule about strapping in arrestees.
10
PS: weird typo, by "to get a lot more brutal", I meant to get a lot less. Obviously we don't want them to get any more brutal.
And dear Circle of Confusion,
That makes sense, although it is the first time I'd heard of it. So the driver could be culpable for involuntary manslaughter. I still think my main point applies, reduce the violence by reducing the poverty in these neighborhoods, and police brutality will be reduced as well. The cops are violent mostly due to fear, I think.
And dear Circle of Confusion,
That makes sense, although it is the first time I'd heard of it. So the driver could be culpable for involuntary manslaughter. I still think my main point applies, reduce the violence by reducing the poverty in these neighborhoods, and police brutality will be reduced as well. The cops are violent mostly due to fear, I think.
2
"Who would predict that a rough ride would kill someone?" said the elementary school bus driver. Excuses, excuses, excuses.
3
This is a reprise of the state trials of innocents that took place in Soviet Russia. This guy had NOT even been accused of a felony. This tells us that Baltimore os already a third-world dust hole.
Freddy Gray threw himself all around that vehicle in order to collect millions from the city. Sadly, he overdid it. Would these trials even be going on if any other president since World War Two was in the White House? I doubt it.
Freddy Gray threw himself all around that vehicle in order to collect millions from the city. Sadly, he overdid it. Would these trials even be going on if any other president since World War Two was in the White House? I doubt it.
11
As an ER doctor, I do not find the allegation as framed against all the police officers to be credible. To me, the smart phone video of the incident tells a completely different story. We know the officer was chasing Freddie on a bike. The video begins with the officers bike on the ground next to a low brick wall. Two officers are dragging Freddie to the police van. He is bleeding from somewhere on his face. He was complaining of difficulty breathing at that point. As the officers drag Freddie his head flops forward and his feet are limp behind him. He is not demonstrating any resistance and has no muscle tone. Dealing frequently with trauma I can only say that it would be unusual for someone's neck to be broken just from rolling around in the back of a van. My conclusion is that the officer tackled Freddie from behind and his head was thrown into the wall and his cervical spine fractured from that major trauma. He was paralyzed when he was put into the van. As a conspiracy theorist, I suspect that the alternative and highly unbelievable scenario alleged as the cause of his death was no mistake but fabricated to give the officers a chance to have the charges thrown out. Otherwise, the officer who tackled Freddie would clearly be guilty of excessive and unwarranted force; The other officers for ignoring a clear cut medical emergency. I have forward this observation to the Baltimore DAs office, the Mayor and newspapers. I never received a response.
319
Isn't it a little dubious to be making a diagnosis by video a la Bill Frist/Terri Schiavo?
16
You must be an amazing ER physician. Do patients just send you video and then let you diagnose and proscribe treatment without them leaving their homes?
12
I find it very surprising that you never received a response!
1
A man is trussed up and left on the floor of a police wagon. His body is bounced around and he dies. I wonder if "anyone" will be found guilty. As one man stated, "He didn't kill himself."
22
> "“Someone dying doesn’t always make it a crime,” Mr. Moskos said. “The prosecutors are trying to find social justice, but these are trials of individual cops.”
A lawyer for Officer Nero, Marc Zayon, called for the charges against the remaining officers to be dropped"
* * *
I am not familiar with the details of this case
1) I agree 100% with the statement that a 'death doesn't always mean that a crime has been committed"
2) As far as the other officers, let them each have their own trials
* * *
> "Despite the acquittal, Tessa Hill-Aston, president of the Baltimore city branch of the NAACP, said she remained hopeful that someone would eventually be held responsible for Mr. Gray’s death"
AGAIN, I don't know the facts well enough to analyze THIS case, but I do know about Michael Brown, and the many people who are claiming that some additional justice is still due for him
Even the Feds agreed that the evidence STRONGLY supported Officer Wilson's story, and that many, many, many of the witnesses initially gave false testimony with the intention of attacking the Police, and many of those false witnesses later re-canted when confronted with irrefutable evidence to the contrary
REALITY-CHECK: There ARE many, many, many valid examples of Police Misconduct. There always have been, and there always will be
We MUST as a society work to bring a stop to as much of this as is possible, but it will never, ever be 100%
** In the vast majority of these cases, the victims trigger them
A lawyer for Officer Nero, Marc Zayon, called for the charges against the remaining officers to be dropped"
* * *
I am not familiar with the details of this case
1) I agree 100% with the statement that a 'death doesn't always mean that a crime has been committed"
2) As far as the other officers, let them each have their own trials
* * *
> "Despite the acquittal, Tessa Hill-Aston, president of the Baltimore city branch of the NAACP, said she remained hopeful that someone would eventually be held responsible for Mr. Gray’s death"
AGAIN, I don't know the facts well enough to analyze THIS case, but I do know about Michael Brown, and the many people who are claiming that some additional justice is still due for him
Even the Feds agreed that the evidence STRONGLY supported Officer Wilson's story, and that many, many, many of the witnesses initially gave false testimony with the intention of attacking the Police, and many of those false witnesses later re-canted when confronted with irrefutable evidence to the contrary
REALITY-CHECK: There ARE many, many, many valid examples of Police Misconduct. There always have been, and there always will be
We MUST as a society work to bring a stop to as much of this as is possible, but it will never, ever be 100%
** In the vast majority of these cases, the victims trigger them
10
The subhead of this story questioned whether anyone will be held accountable for Mr. Gray's death.
I'm curious when the African American community will accept accountability for the deaths in their own community. It is naive and disingenuous to deny the fact that heavy handed policing in African American communities is the direct result of the extreme violence and lawlessness in these communities.
My own community still faces protests resulting from the justified police shooting of an African American man in November, yet the same community activists are silent when African Americans have killed African Americans since then in public shootouts that resemble Baghdad, not the Midwest.
The African American community has a lot of legitimate grievances, but those won't ever get solved as long as they keep acting as if they don't bear any responsibility for the chaos in their own community.
I'm curious when the African American community will accept accountability for the deaths in their own community. It is naive and disingenuous to deny the fact that heavy handed policing in African American communities is the direct result of the extreme violence and lawlessness in these communities.
My own community still faces protests resulting from the justified police shooting of an African American man in November, yet the same community activists are silent when African Americans have killed African Americans since then in public shootouts that resemble Baghdad, not the Midwest.
The African American community has a lot of legitimate grievances, but those won't ever get solved as long as they keep acting as if they don't bear any responsibility for the chaos in their own community.
353
For those who agree with this proposition that the sick patient be responsible for the complex process of starting the healing himself then the good hearted amongst you implicitly acknowledge the community needs an action plan buttressed with tax dollar resources. For those who disagree with me, your viewpoint reveals a misunderstanding of how society works in USA. Or worse you don't see it as our brother's problem in the family of man. Your reason for apathy matters not to me but is indicative of why we have these type problems.
5
mobocracy,
There are a very few voices from the A.A. community that do recognize
Former Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter, from yesterday's excellent piece in the NYT: "Cloaking the issue, he said, only makes it easier for the country to tune out what amounts to “mass murder occurring in slow motion every day.” Both he and Mr. Abdullah say they wish some of the outrage over police killings of unarmed African-Americans would spill over to victims who die in anonymity in routine gun violence."
There are a very few voices from the A.A. community that do recognize
Former Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter, from yesterday's excellent piece in the NYT: "Cloaking the issue, he said, only makes it easier for the country to tune out what amounts to “mass murder occurring in slow motion every day.” Both he and Mr. Abdullah say they wish some of the outrage over police killings of unarmed African-Americans would spill over to victims who die in anonymity in routine gun violence."
6
The fact that the Baltimore police have a name for this sort of injury.... a 'rough ride' .... suggests a community under siege.
7
It will be easy to blame judge or prosecutor here. But let's see - It's clear that Freddy Gray died in custody of these cops. Cops do share the blame, but the current system of justice says cop is not at fault here based on the rules setup by us.
What do you do here? Only way forward is to understand what happened and work to improve the rules so we can proudly say that every life matters in America.
What do you do here? Only way forward is to understand what happened and work to improve the rules so we can proudly say that every life matters in America.
4
Seat belts matter.
6
Seat belts matter, yes. P2, there's no point in improving the rules when the rules you had (people in police custody have to be belted in during transport) are routinely ignored.
Officer Nero probably chose to be judged by the judge, and not a jury because all cops know the judges are on their side. There was no bribe or nod and a wink. It simply means all judges know they would never get ahead or even have a job if they favored defendants over the entrenched power of the state that pays them and the Police that serve the state just like them.
Judges, cops, and prosecutors are all brothers too.
This not guilty judgement was preordained by reality, not the circumstances of the case.
Judges, cops, and prosecutors are all brothers too.
This not guilty judgement was preordained by reality, not the circumstances of the case.
15
Many people who claim they want justice, really just want vengeance. While it is true that it is often more difficult to obtain convictions of cops, to say that everyone is conspiring to protect them is foolish. There was evidence, it was presented, and it was found to be wanting. that is the system.
18
Some have wondered whether Patrick has ever in his life had a meaningful conversation - much less friendship - with any policeman. Now we know the answer.
12
Patrick: Actually he chose a bench trial, his absolute right under Maryland law, because complicated legal issues were involved. Read the times last week, if you are capable.
16
It is untrue to say that these officers did nothing wrong. They may have done nothing illegal but that is a far cry from not doing anything wrong. They showed a wanton indifference to the safety of Freddie Gray. It seems that an arrest by the Baltimore PD can sometimes be a death sentence. These officers are a disgrace and it seems that the bad apples argument that we keep hearing is a fraud. When the whole barrel is full of bad apples, as in Chicago, its time that we enact laws that protect the poor and minorities from the police.
27
What did they do that was indifferent? They did fail to buckle him up in a seat belt. But that was the practice generally. They don't buckle in my autistic son on the school bus either. Once the driver swerved and my son exclaimed "need a seat belt!"
7
No, strapping in the guy you just arrested is part of the documented arrest procedure.
1
It had only been added to the arrest procedure a few weeks before the incident, and there's evidence demonstrating it wasn't well publicized.
3
A person who the District Attorney says was not guilty of a crime is arrested, and subsequently dies. Someone is guilty of something! For example "involuntary manslaughter", which is a crime in Maryland, and which includes negligent homicide. However, if any of the officers were trained to place a seat belt on a prisoner, then it is potentially voluntary manslaughter.
9
If you'd been following this case, you'd know that the prosecution conceded that the knife Gray was carrying was, in fact, illegal.
12
The Baltimore City States Attorney Marilyn Mosby will now rank in infamy next to the NCarolina County DA who brought charges in the Duke lacrosse case.Two trials so far in the Freddie Gray issue.One mistrial with the jury 11-1 for acquittal and now a bench trial verdict of not guilty.Lets see if the criminals in Baltimore riot over this verdict.If so,have no mercy on them.How long before the race hustlers Sharpton and Jesse march in Baltimore?Will Loretta Lynch now bring civil rights charges against the black judge who made the verdict?
78
Bud, This young man's spinal cord was severed and his voice box was broken/crushed, and no explanation has been offered by the police. A trial was necessary to get answers....unfortunately the police and prosecutors protect their own so none were given.
2
The jurors are the people of Baltimore. The Judge must be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt by the prosecution that Officer Nero committed a crime. It has nothing to do with the system because the same rules apply for criminals. If you want to feel upset at anyone, maybe look at the States Attorneys office who rushed to judgment and decided to charge six officers. If anyone should be punished it should be truly those who are responsible for the life of the person in custody who failed to do there job. Not all six officers played a roll in Mr Grey's death. I believe that more responsibility fell on the driver considering that the injuries sustained was while in back of the transport van. How can any reasonable person feel the need to punish all six officers for simply doing their job.
17
Bringing charges just to make us all feel better about ourselves never seems to work out very well in the end.
86
This type of police abuse doesn't usually happen in affluent areas. Does anyone want to guess why?
24
Is it because of the lack of crime?
34
because whites, on a per capita level, don't commit as much crime as blacks? That the press could care less if a white were beaten or killed?
20
J.L., it didn't happen with Mr. Gray either. He simply went too far as he threw himself around the inside of the paddy wagon.
Gray was working on his civil suit like had become the easy road to wealth for that city's poor. Check out the recent history of lawsuits against the Baltimore government.
Gray was working on his civil suit like had become the easy road to wealth for that city's poor. Check out the recent history of lawsuits against the Baltimore government.
10
Given the results of TWO trials -
the question now becomes -
'How soon before Marilyn Mosby
faces charges for 'malicious prosecution' ?
the question now becomes -
'How soon before Marilyn Mosby
faces charges for 'malicious prosecution' ?
93
Can you imagine the liberal media's persecution on any prosecutor who brought such a case? You would hear the screaming all the way up to your front yard.
5
"'How soon before Marilyn Mosby
faces charges for 'malicious prosecution' ?"
It can not be too soon.
faces charges for 'malicious prosecution' ?"
It can not be too soon.
9
Malicious prosecution is a civil offense, not criminal. Moreover, prosecutors are exempt from malicious prosecution claims. The remedy for prosecutorial misbehavior of this type is sanction from the judge and/or the Maryland bar. Also, if DA's are elected in MD, then vote her out.
1
This is so disturbing. His spine was severed! I don't know what happened in that van but whatever it was, it was bad. How this police officer can get off only shows how corrupt the system is. I hope things can change or that they can get some justice someday.
150
Because this cop had nothing to do with the crime.
He was on bike patrol. That means he came in on motorcycle and arrested the individual and then, left on motorcycle. He couldn't have been inside the van when the alleged crime took place.
This is just media manipulation.
He was on bike patrol. That means he came in on motorcycle and arrested the individual and then, left on motorcycle. He couldn't have been inside the van when the alleged crime took place.
This is just media manipulation.
14
You might want to have a basic familiarity with the case before demanding vengeance. Comments like this are exactly why Nero chose to avoid a jury trial.
11
His spine was FUNCTIONALLY severed. Adverbs are your friends.
4
An african-american judge- not a jury-determines that a white cop was not guilty of his involvement in the death of Mr Gray. I understand this is confusing and difficult to the #BLM movement, but maybe-just maybe- cooler heads are finally taking over. Same goes with the Brooklyn DA's (Kenneth Thompson) sentencing suggestion on Officer Peter Laing. It's easy to blame "institutions", but when those institutions are populated by a diverse cast, well, the results really say something.
133
Judges are naturally inclined to side with the police. Not doing so would be political suicide.
8
The problem with your point is the assumption that folks of color who occupy positions of power or favor will act in the best interest of other folks of color. We know this wasn't always true. Historically, there were Black slaveholders and overseers. White supremacy as a power structure is an attractive nuisance to some, regardless of who gets to perform it.
3
So why then the big push to appoint justices of different backgrounds if all they will do is join the "power structure"? Aren't we being a weeeee bit presumptive on Justice Williams' integrity?
4
As long as it remains political suicide for a judge to convict a police officer (in all but the most outrageous of cases), judges will look for, and find, some reason to acquit. It's pure and simple vote-counting politics and the police understand their power at the polls.
25
Stop it. Why would it be political suicide for a judge to convict a police office in Baltimore? The prosecution brought a weak case, and did not have the advantage of playing to a jury. Instead, the judge asked pointed questions throughout the trial.
60
gioco, it was not a judge who refused to convict but a jury.
2
A black judge too, something unmentioned in the story.
8
Since when is "intent to commit a crime" the standard in cases involving negligence and recklessness?
46
Since the judge is afraid of the Police union, that's when....
15
Exactly. If that is/was truly the basis for his verdict, the prosecution does appear to have a case for an appeal.
> "Since when is "intent to commit a crime" the standard in cases involving negligence and recklessness?"
THIS IS A VERY GOOD POINT, "Intent" has become a very bizarre legal issue in the past 30-50 years
1) Whenever you go to Traffic Court, most of us will hear from the Judge before court begins on something like the old phrase: "ignorance of the law, is no excuse". In the old days, intention & knowledge of the law were largely irrelevant, UNLESS you were wealthy and had an expensive attorney, who could usually just make the matter 'go away'
2) Recently legislatures at all levels, have been changing the laws so that upper-class folks have to be proven guilty of INTENT, rather than guilty 'in fact'.
A clear example of this is in WhiteCollar Crime, where GHWB/#41 put hundreds of crooks in jail over the S&L Financial Scandal of the late 80s.
Nowdays, it is almost impossible to jail, or even punish ANY corporate crook due to the impossible requirement of having to prove "Intent". Instead the statues have been revised so that the criminals get off scott-free with all the bonuses & ill-gotten gains fully intact, and any "punishment" is meted out to the stockholders of said, corporations
* * *
ALL I know about this case is what I've read here, and looking at the good, but not great, interactive timeline/map exhibit, which to me, leaves more questions than answers:
"Officer Nero, who was implicated not in the death of Mr. Gray but in the opening moments of his arrest"
THIS IS A VERY GOOD POINT, "Intent" has become a very bizarre legal issue in the past 30-50 years
1) Whenever you go to Traffic Court, most of us will hear from the Judge before court begins on something like the old phrase: "ignorance of the law, is no excuse". In the old days, intention & knowledge of the law were largely irrelevant, UNLESS you were wealthy and had an expensive attorney, who could usually just make the matter 'go away'
2) Recently legislatures at all levels, have been changing the laws so that upper-class folks have to be proven guilty of INTENT, rather than guilty 'in fact'.
A clear example of this is in WhiteCollar Crime, where GHWB/#41 put hundreds of crooks in jail over the S&L Financial Scandal of the late 80s.
Nowdays, it is almost impossible to jail, or even punish ANY corporate crook due to the impossible requirement of having to prove "Intent". Instead the statues have been revised so that the criminals get off scott-free with all the bonuses & ill-gotten gains fully intact, and any "punishment" is meted out to the stockholders of said, corporations
* * *
ALL I know about this case is what I've read here, and looking at the good, but not great, interactive timeline/map exhibit, which to me, leaves more questions than answers:
"Officer Nero, who was implicated not in the death of Mr. Gray but in the opening moments of his arrest"
3