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ABC News reports that State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, the chief prosecutor for Baltimore, announced minutes ago, that her office has also found probable cause to pursue criminal charges in the case of Freddie Gray.
Mosby detailed how officers repeatedly ignored Gray’s pleas for help and that officers bound his arms behind his back and put his legs in clamps but did not secure him within the police wagon with a seat belt, which also violates Baltimore police policy.
One of the biggest findings that Mosby announced was that the decision to take Gray into custody in the first place was unwarranted because the knife that he had is allowed under Baltimore laws making his arrest illegal. While the knife was able to fold, it was not a switchblade.
Mosby announced a series of charges now facing the six police officers involved in putting Gray in custody on the morning of April 12. The charges vary for each officer, but include several counts of manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office, and false imprisonment among others. The most serious charge was second-degree depraved heart murder, which only one officer faces. A warrant has been issued for the police officer’s arrest.
Gray, 25, was taken into police custody on April 12 and sustained a spinal injury during that time that required medical attention. He went into a coma several days later and died a week after his arrest. Police have never said why they took him into custody, noting only that he ran from officers, and they have not publicly explained how Gray received the spinal injury.
Mosby urged calm in the wake of the charges, speaking directly to protesters at the end of her news conference, “I heard your call for ‘no justice, no peace.’ However your peace is sincerely needed as I work to deliver justice on behalf of Freddie Gray,”
