On Thursday a most anomalous circumstance occurred when six Baltimore police officers were indicted on charges in the death of Freddie Gray. This comes in the wake of evidence presented to a grand jury over a two-week span, according to Baltimore City States Attorney Marilyn Mosby.
The death of Freddie Gray, and the civil unrest that it sparked, were covered extensively by The Shadow League. The late Mr. Gray is said to have suffered a catastrophic spinal injury while in police custody that caused his death a week later. If convicted, the officers in question would face decades in prison. Among the charges levied against the Baltimore Brutal Six are illegal arrest, misconduct, assault, second degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, among a multitude of other charges.
The driver of the van that was being used to transport Gray, Officer Caesar R. Goodson Jr, faces the most charges, including second-degree depraved heart murder.
“As our investigation has continued, additional information has been discovered, and as is often the case during an ongoing investigation, charges can and should be revised based upon the evidence,” Mosby told reporters.
In a statement released after the indictments were handed down, the police union called for the citizens of Baltimore to support the police.
“All citizens are innocent until proven guilty, including these six officers,” Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police President Gene Ryan said.
However, what Mr. Ryan and others of his ilk fail to come to grips with or take into account is that police officers are afforded a special trust to uphold the law. If that trust is forfeit in the committing and concealment of a crime the book should be thrown at them.
Not just the book, the whole damn library! Police officers are our shield against the darkness, and when they become the darkness they should be exorcised without delay. It seems like a clear cut thing in the minds of the logical observer unencumbered by emotion. But seldom are prosecutors committed to going all out against the police. Baltimore State’s Attorney Mosby is the exception to that rule thus far.
But well all get to see just how difficult it is to prosecute police officers for a crime even when it appears if they were caught red handed, and especially when a person of African descent is the victim. There is the possibility that not all of the officers indicted actually participated in breaking Grays spine and covering it up, and it is our greatest hope that the innocent among them go free. But somebodys guilty, He didnt break his own spine.