BALTIMORE
- Six Baltimore police officers will face murder and other charges in
the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray, the city's chief prosecutor
Marilyn Mosby said.
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Fri May 1, 2015 12:25pm EDT
Six Baltimore police officers face murder, other charges in Freddie Gray's death
(Reuters) - Six Baltimore police officers will face criminal charges,
including second-degree murder and manslaughter, in the death of a black
man who was arrested and suffered a fatal neck injury while riding in a
moving police van, the city's chief prosecutor said on Friday.
Prosecutor Marilyn Mosby said
Freddie Gray, who died a week after his April 12 arrest, was in
handcuffs but otherwise was not restrained inside the van. The officers
failed to provide medical attention to Gray even though he asked for
help on at least two occasions.
Gray's
death has become the latest flashpoint in a national outcry over the
treatment of African-Americans and other minority groups by U.S. law
enforcement.
After a night of
rioting in Baltimore on Monday, protests spread to other major cities in
a reprise of demonstrations last year set off by police killings of
unarmed black men in Ferguson, Missouri, New York and elsewhere.
Warrants
have been issued for the arrest of the officers charged, Mosby said at a
dramatic news conference in front of a city office building across from
Baltimore City Hall. In addition to murder and manslaughter, charges
include assault, misconduct and false imprisonment.
Representatives for the police union and Gray's family were not immediately available for comment.
"We
put all our resources to make sure we were pursuing and leading where
the facts took us in this case, which was to pursue justice," Mosby
said, a day after the Baltimore Police Department turned over findings
from its internal investigation.
Mosby
said the Maryland chief medical examiner ruled Gray's death a homicide.
The 25-year-old Gray was no longer breathing when he was finally
removed from the van, Mosby said.
A crowd of people who gathered to listen to the prosecutor's
announcement broke into applause and drivers honked their car horns
after she finished speaking. Some of the onlookers chanted: “Justice!”
“Justice for Freddie!” “Thank you Ms Mosby."
"The
people of America give me hope. People like this district attorney give
me hope," said Jay Morrison, a youth leader who attended the news
conference.
Mosby, a 35-year-old
African-American who took office in January, is facing the biggest test
of her short career in deciding to bring charges against the officers.
In
Ferguson and New York last year, grand juries decided against charging
officers who were involved in the deaths of two unarmed black men. The
news triggered rioting in the St. Louis suburb and days of protest
marches in New York and other cities.
(Writing by Frank McGurty; Editing by Grant McCool)
copy http://www.reuters.com/
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