Clockwise from to right: still from video of Freddie Gray’s arrest; Mosby giving a press conference; likeness of alleged murder weapon.
Maryland is finally showing us how it’s done.
Newly elected Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, herself part of a family long involved in policing but but who campaigned on a pledge to prosecute police officers as needed because “no one is above the law,” announced this morning that six officers would be prosecuted in the death of Freddie Gray. Gray’s death, following a coma and severed spine incurred while in police custody, precipitated first lawful protests, then sporadic rioting, and then a curfew and deployment of National Guardsmen in Baltimore.
After numerous rumors and a misleading autopsy report released by the police, the official medical examiner’s report revealed that Gray’s neck snapped when he was propelled headlong into a wall of the van that was carrying him from his arrest, with a bolt on that wall matching an injury on the top of his head, with sufficient force to almost entirely sever his cervical spine. Gray was shackled and unrestrained by the Baltimore police who allegedly had a track record of injuring those transported following arrest in this sort of “rough ride.” Gray was in a coma when removed from the van and died in the hospital the following week.
Charged were:
Officer Caesar Goodson Jr., 45, who drove the police van taking Gray and another arrested youth through Baltimore’s streets: second-degree murder, manslaughter, second-degree assault, two vehicular manslaughter charges and misconduct in office.
Officer William Porter, 25: involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault and misconduct in office.
Lt. Brian Rice, 41: involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault and misconduct in office.
Sgt. Alicia White, 30: involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault and misconduct in office.
Officer Edward Nero, 29: second-degree assault and misconduct in office.
Officer Garrett Miller, 26: second-degree assault, misconduct in office and false imprisonment.
Police had previously leaked evidence that Gray had intentionally broken his own neck while shackled insider the fan, a claim ridiculed by medical examiners outside of the department.
We will never know if this appropriate response would have happened, at least this soon, had there not been rioting on Monday. I believe that it would have happened anyway, given the evident care that Mosby has shown, but I really don’t know (and neither do you, the reader), and I doubt that I could convince someone who believed that peaceful protest alone would not have been sufficient to lead to this result. Certainly peaceful protest elsewhere hasn’t been sufficient — and surely the pressure on Mosby not to take this extraordinary step was intense.
That is one of the problems with injustice — it can lead people who face it to extreme reactions, after which they will never know whether those reactions were necessary to adjust resolution.
It would have been to have had the timeline for a decision to prosecute spelled out by the time of the funeral.
And it would have been very nice not to have false and misleading reports leak out from the police over the course of the past week, reminding us and the people of Baltimore of how frequently the official story of such an event is accepted without much apparent challenge or doubt
Ron Thomas — father of Kelly Thomas, the homeless man killed by Fullerton police in a case that also received national attention — send around this message this morning: “This sounds all [too] familiar. Just like in my son’s case, but now I think that DA’s and prosecutors are taking a stance and letting police departments and officers know that murder by cop will not be tolerated anymore.”
One hopes that either State’s Attorney Mosby will not take the case to court personally, especially if she has as little recent prosecutorial experience as did OC District Attorney Tony Rackauckas — unlikely, as she is only 35 — or that she will be much more thorough and better prepared than he was.
Vern’s recently been adding music to most of these Open Threads — so here’s an appropriate one to start with:
I can’t embed Nina Simone’s cover of the song, shown over a montage of clips from “The Wire,” but it’s worth your clicking here to see and listen to it yourself.
And, to mark another death, this time of another brilliant singer at the age of 76, enjoy this old standby.
This is your Weekend Open Thread. Talk about this, or anything else you’d like, within reasonable bounds of decency and decorum.
On a lighter note: coming to Netflix streaming in May.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2015/05/01/new_on_netflix_may_2015_the_best_movies_and_tv_shows_to_stream_including.html
“While no one condones looting, on the other hand, one can understand the pent-up feelings that may result from decades of repression…”
–Donald Rumsfeld, reacting to Iraqi looters in 2003
Talk about optics and bad timing –
Loyalty Rewards? Clinton donors, allies on Africa ‘safari’ with ex-president
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/05/01/loyalty-rewards-clinton-donors-allies-on-africa-safari-with-ex-president/
What’s truly sick here is how loudly the union is proclaiming these officers did nothing wrong.
I can think of no better example of what’s wrong with law enforcement in this country. How can we really expect LEOs to do their job impartially when their union, the organisation they pay dues to, not only openly rejects an independent component of the legal process, but also openly DEFIES it?
That’s not justice. It’s wrong and it has to stop. Law Enforcement Officers have a difficult job, which requires public support to do well. Making it clear the public law enforcement system ought to obey the thin blue line and not the other way around is a recipe for disaster.
*The saddest part of this story…is, that it wasn’t taken care of in Fullerton, or Florida, or Missouri………”the biggest problem in the world can be solved when it’s small….” the wise ones say.
…”the biggest problem in the world can be solved when it’s small….” the wise ones say.
I’m pretty sure I never said that.
as a kid, i was taught that if a police officer tells you to do something, you do it
what i cannot get past in all of this, is the person involved disobeyed a police officer and regardless of why the officer gave a particular order, part of the social contract is that the officer is to be obeyed. if the officer is wrong, you sue or complain or call the rev al but you do not run away. none of these deaths would have occurred if the individual involved had simply obeyed the police officer.
ok all you communist sociologists, take it away
Sorry, not worth it.
*”Blame it on the Bossa Nova…..with it’s magic spell. Blame it on the Bossa Nova…that we did so well….” Edie Gormet said that. But then she was not sat on by three 260 lb porkers or shot down like a dog or shakled with hands and feet and laid down on a slippery floor and run over a skate board course.
To be truthful, when our local cops lived down the street…..from us….they knew who were the bad guys and who were just kids. Today, they all live out of town and act like Security Guards at a Rock Star Performance.
Three of the six Baltimore cops are African-American.
Somebody ‘splain that. And to the people of Baltimore, too. I have a theory and it ain’t pretty.
*When you give someone a gun, a baton, mace and a taser and tell them that
it is quite alright to enforce the law, anyway you want…….it really doesn’t matter
what color you are. We can easily point to ISIS/ISIL or Bokoharam or the Houtis, or the Turks, or Pakistanis or the Tuggs of Northern India…..they all can kill with impunity…..when no one has the moral authority to tell them no. The Social Contract we have in this country needs to include a renewed morality about law enforcement, politics and philosophy. Ann Rand has worn out her welcome at this point…and unless people grasp that………these inequities will continue unabated. “The Biggest Problem in the World ….can be solved when it is small………” from our unnamed source on a bicycle talking to a reporter during the OJ uprising in LA. But then we repeat ourselves……probably until,
someone starts to listen.
When you give someone a gun, a baton, mace and a taser and tell them that it is quite alright to enforce the law, anyway you want…….it really doesn’t matter what color you are
Yes, that is the truth, although the fact that these confrontations keep involving minorities.
BTW, it’s “Ayn” Rand and she was never very welcome in the first place. Her philosophy is not responsible for bad cop culture. That is the fault of a citizenry that would prefer to hand over its sovereignty to its rulers and their Praetorian Guard.
Good grief. Sovereignty?
We need police. We just need them to be properly trained and to “protect and serve.” Far too many police departments have lost sight of that. The officers are poorly trained and their trigger fingers are FAR too itchy. They shoot to kill rather than shoot to incapacitate.
Ain’t got nothing to do with sovereignty.
We need police. We don’t need an independent, militarized force that answers to nobody and that we permit to elect politicians beholden to them. That poor training and itchy trigger fingers doesn’t get fixed or punished. Those killings? How many of those have been punished in this State?
We have POBR shoved up our asses. And we asked for it by electing legislators and governors that take their orders from the police and prison guard unions.
Sovereignty. POBR makes it a joke.
I certainly don’t disagree that militarization and lack of accountability are problems.
*We disagree, Ayn Rand as you rightly corrected…..believes that “the end justifies the means and that any action can be employed for that purpose”.
This type of moral abdication has perfaded our society during the last 20 years……and was exemplified by our good friend Dick Cheney and Gates and others. Now we don’t care what your philosophy might be, but when it seeps deep into the marrow of the society – the dominos do in fact fall to the lowest common denominator. Taking personal responsibility for the actions of one’s organization or associations is a basic tenet of a civil society. When you throw out those self imposed righteous distinctions…bad things follow. It is the very reason why we have argued that when societal norms, controlled by those in power fail….that those in charge take full responsibility and step aside to make room for someone with a clearer look at the ramifications involved. When you pick on blacks in our society, it is a total throwback to the days, when folks blamed the Indians for raiding the covered wagons and the drunken cowboys raping Indian squaws for sport, along with taking their scalps. You can watch Nevada Smith and get a grip on what went on in the wild west……and this seems to be where we are headed again….if we don’t put a quick stop to it.
Well I could try to unravel this mess or I could just go take a mid-afternoon nap.
My old history professor the late great Dr. Tom Philpott used to say “Scratch a black cop and you’ll find a cop.”
Yep. Pretty much part of the implicit job duties.
Umm… when what police do really looks to most of us like keeping down the minorities, an easy and common assumption is that cops who are part of those minorities would behave differently. But mostly we see that they don’t.
Not implicit job duties, we’re talking about decisions that individual cops can make or not.
Exactly. It’s cultural.
The 1600 block of Pennsylvania Ave. in DC is closed to everyone – and no news outlet is reporting it.
“and no news outlet is reporting it”
Then how do you know?
I was in DC this week, staying at a hotel 2 blocks from WH. I have photos.
Well, then. Write us a story and you’ll have a scoop.
But no conspiracy theorizing, please. Don’t mess with (the plans to invade) Texas.
The story is that Sunday night we walked leisurely and pleasantly in front of the WH on Penn. Ave. – sometime between then and Thursday morning, when we were walking to breakfast – hoping to walk in front of the WH again, the 1600 block of Penn. Ave. was closed – unless you had a WH pass.
I was pissed because we did not have time in our schedule to walk the 3 long blocks around the closure to make our breakfast reservation at 1900 Penn. Ave. – I would have BHO impeached just for that.
I will email the photos to you.
Maybe because of the State Dinner for the Prime Minister of Japan?
Or because of the Texas thing that Vern and I aren’t allowed to write about yet.
My understanding is that there are temporary closures to foot traffic periodically due to security concerns. Not particularly newsworthy…and it strikes me as something you sometimes have to do suddenly, so public notice can be problematic.
Yes anon – It also works well when you don’t want Black Lives Matter protesters with signs, bullhorns, chants and all on TV with the White House as a backdrop.
Yes, yes, I know…everything is a big conspiracy in your world.
The portion in front of the White House has been closed to vehicular traffic since the Oklahoma City bombing.
That is another of your misleading statements anon, meant to contradict and deceive (lie) – 1600 block of Pennsylvania Ave. has been permanently closed to regular vehicular traffic – but NOT pedestrian traffic. Reference my original comment on this topic – I walked in front of the White House on 1600 Penn. Ave. Sunday evening.
And then I clarified with another comment.
Give it a rest.
At my concert last weekend we sang a couple of songs against the Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership:
Greg Diamond – “Maybe because of the State Dinner for the Prime Minister of Japan?”
Nice try Diamond – the State Dinner was Tuesday night – not Thursday morning. My theory holds water.
Closing 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to free speech works well when you don’t want Black Lives Matter protesters with signs, bullhorns, chants and all exposed in the media with the White House as a backdrop.
Oh, you’re right — “sometime between Sunday and Thursday morning” definitely rules out Tuesday evening. Maybe it was closed for that and the rest of the state visit and intentionally didn’t reopen until it would no longer inconvenience you.
The Zenger – best comment of the week.
“We have POBR shoved up our asses. And we asked for it by electing legislators and governors that take their orders from the police and prison guard unions.”
Any response Diamond …. Vern … any other radical lib dem?
Those unions contribute to Republicans as well as Democrats.
Did you have a point to make?
While you’re at it, tell us whether or not you were in favor of things like “Three Strikes” and “Mandatory Minimum Sentencing.”
Have you slept through the past years of me and Diamond’s writings? Probably, you are elderly. We’re on the same page with Zenger on this. Get things straight.
I have a hunch Skally isn’t exactly opposed to the prison/industrial complex.
Except very briefly if he sees a partisan angle to it.
When I ran for State Senate and for District Attorney, police unions overwhelmingly favored my opponent. So you can cram your insinuation up next to POBR.
Ewwww, skallywag has POBR in his butt? Unpleasant!
Do not disturb my subtle witticisms, dammit!
I think its safe to say most voters favored your opponents. Too bad too, it would have been nice to have a viable alternative to Huff and T-RACK.
All of the “viable alternatives” were skeered to run. I was the inexpensive alternative. Happy to have taken a public stand.
You want someone else? Go make it happen. But as you’re tossing rocks from behind a wall of anonymity yourself, your doing so seems pretty unlikely.
*We have heard it all. No, actually, we have not heard it all. These people have lost track of reality, but then, reality isn’t that pleasant right now. All we can say is that Panda’s in China are still a wanted commodity and especially the gold coin kind. More valuable than platium….is impressive…..to say the least. Canadian Moose and South African Kuggies
are worthwhile too……so do not dispair!
*Our prediction: Life imprisionment for three, 20 years to life for the other three. But then wishful thinking isn’t what it used to be after the Amada Knox decision.
none of those guys do a day in jail
but lets focus on the really important stuff
clippers beat the spurs
*did we say how much we love Greg Popovich? Crafty Pop sold us our first real stereo back in 1980…Marantz don’t make ’em like that anymore – Great action on the tuning dial…Wow!
Crafty Pop lost to cal tech too…in 1979. 5 NBA titles later….
Ted Cruz bears an uncanny resemblance to Joe McCarthy (not the baseball manager).
Vern, can you put up a coupla’ side by side pics?
Looked into it, and no need to re-invent the wheel: Many great minds have thought the same. First five results:
This belongs in the SSSWOT. – Stupid Shit Section of the Weekend Open Thread.
What, not a McCarthy fan? Did he do something wrong? Something you would have disagreed with back in the day?
I doubt it. My parents loved him. They told me “Up With People” had a song about him… which didn’t mention his name because ALREADY in the 1960’s you people were a little embarrassed of him. I’m gonna look for that.
Up With People!
My Dad bought that album. Nothing about tail gunner Joe, though…
“… he was a lad of action…
a yankee true but people knew his blood ran Irish green…”
We had their first two albums, they were “up With People” , “Sing Out” and “the Campaign for Moral Re-armament.” My mom apparently read in her John Birch mailings that they were a good thing to subject your kids to, and they WERE pretty catchy to 8-year olds.
She was pretty sure that one song was about Joe McCarthy.. I remember other songs about Paul Revere, Joan of Arc… even one called “ashes” sung by a black lady that I still fondly remember, but can’t find…
I remember that song – it was about “a lad named Patrick” who left Ireland for America.
And I remember the one about Joan of Arc, too. ‘What Color is God’s Skin.” Classic! “Freedom Isn’t Free.”
The tunes were catchy and the album featured testimonials by Walt Disney and (I think) John Wayne, who chortled over the wholesomeness of the whole enterprise.
Hm… okay… I wonder why my mom thought that was about McCarthy. Crazy mom. This is still cool in a retro way…
Hey wait… Here is Ashes, which somebody uploaded since last time I looked for it… and they say that Glenn Close WROTE and SANG it? Doesnt’ seem right… I used to picture a beautiful black woman singing it when I was 8…
It gets weirder…
And NOW I remember the Paul Revere tune, also.
I wonder if they weren’t satirized in The Mighty Wind.
Hey, tell yer man to quit grooming his natural eyebrows and we’ll have a Tailgunner Joe dead ringer.
Damn. With so many people in the world it’s almost impossible to have an original thought.
Same with damned melodies.
And now I can’t get the damn Paul Revere tune out of my head. And I hadn’t heard it for 45 years.
Hahaha…. Ride ride tho the night be cold,
Ride ride till the truth be told!
Scratch 2 radical Islamic terrorists off the list. They ought to hold more of these types of events in Texas.
I didn’t know that you had a list.
Who said there is no war on religion?
Justice Samuel Alito asked Verrilli whether a religious school that believed marriage was the union of husband and wife would lose their non-profit tax status. The solicitor general answered: “It’s certainly going to be an issue. I don’t deny that. I don’t deny that, Justice Alito. It is it is going to be an issue.”
http://dailysignal.com/2015/04/28/obama-administration-says-non-profit-status-going-to-be-an-issue-for-religious-schools/
“a religious school that believed marriage was the union of husband and wife…” How many words there are bullshit sloppy paraphrase? I’ll go ahead and “believe” fellatio is a contract between Mars and Venus, see if the tax man hits me.
*Paul Revere and Raiders ruined “Cherokee Nation”. John D. Loudermilk wrote it and sang it and it is still the best rendition ever! “UP them people…eh?” Is that like “For Those That Think Young!” from the Pepsi Generation? We still love James Darren and Pamela Tiffin…..we must say! Face it Chairman Vern, the originals are always the best. Who is going to cover Ray Charles on “Whad’ISay?” Or Little Stevie Wonder on “Fingertips…Part I and II”?
*What, you didn’t get our point? Jack Webb, Ben Alexander and Dragnet or
Dandy Don Meredith on Joseph Wambaugh’s – Police Story. How about
“Hill Street Blues”? Good police work is hard to find…is our point.
Who said this? http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/04/nonviolence-as-compliance/391640/
“When nonviolence is preached as an attempt to evade the repercussions of political brutality, it betrays itself. When nonviolence begins halfway through the war with the aggressor calling time out, it exposes itself as a ruse. When nonviolence is preached by the representatives of the state, while the state doles out heaps of violence to its citizens, it reveals itself to be a con. And none of this can mean that rioting or violence is “correct” or “wise,” any more than a forest fire can be “correct” or “wise.” Wisdom isn’t the point tonight. Disrespect is. In this case, disrespect for the hollow law and failed order that so regularly disrespects the community.”