Six Baltimore officers charged in death of Gray, one with murder

Baltimore’s chief prosecutor charged one police officer with murder on Friday and five others with lesser crimes in the death of a young black man who suffered a critical neck injury in the back of a police van, a case that fueled new anger over police treatment of minorities. The swift decision by Marilyn Mosby, who has been in the position only since January, to charge the six officers in the death of Freddie Gray caught many by surprise in a city hit Monday night by its worst civil unrest in decades.

We are disappointed in the apparent rush to judgment given the fact the investigation into this matter has not been concluded.

Gene Ryan, president of the Baltimore Fraternal Order of Police

Rioters burned buildings and looted stores in Baltimore on Monday night after Gray’s funeral, and protests spread to other major cities in a reprise of demonstrations set off by police killings last year of unarmed black men in Ferguson, Missouri, New York and elsewhere. According to Mosby, officers cuffed Gray’s hands behind his back and shackled his legs but did not secure him with a seatbelt while the van was moving, a violation of police department policy.

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