The video is, though incomplete, astonishing. In my estimation, it shows the aftermath of a brutal assault and the carrying away of a suspect who physically cannot stand, cannot hold his head up and probably has already suffered the injuries that would end his life seven days later. And then he is restrained in Medieval sort of metal restraints and loaded with conscious disregard of near fatal injuries and then taken for a bumpy ride through rush hour in a hopping town.
Even more suspicious is the other suspect who has now come out claiming that Freddie Gray injured himself. There is too much history of police threatening suspects and killing people in custody for me to believe this kid has not been threatened. As tasteless as it is to talebear the story he has brought to us, he likely would have been eliminated if he had not played his part in the operation. And that death would have never been discussed.
And here we have one Marilyn Mosby. She is the youngest prosecutor of a major city in this country. She has on Friday, May 1, 2015, declared that the city will prosecute and seek the convictions of six officers on charges including second-degree murder ad false imprisonment, among others.
The commissioner of the police union says that the prosecution has rushed to judgment, Mosby should recuse herself, and a special prosecutor should be appointed. He says at no time have his officers acted wrongly.
"We are disappointed in the apparent rush to judgement, given the fact the investigation into this matter has not been concluded." 1
“Not one of the officers involved are responsible for the death of Mr. Gray.” 2
Who has rushed to judgment? Gene Ryan has rushed to judgment. He says in his own press conference that Mosby has rushed to judgment and his men did nothing wrong. That very statement is a rush to judgment! Marilyn Mosby is asking for the process that the police union says works when they put away your sons to also apply to the officers who enforce it. And now the officers say it does not work. They want a just-us system, rather than a justice system. Mosby is asking for a jury of peers to evaluate the officers' conduct and is not rushing to judgment at all.
In fact, the Fraternal Order of Police letter directed to Marilyn Mosby contains veiled threats against her, stating that her and her husband's political career could be threatened if she does not cooperate with the entrench Baltimore political machine.
Marilyn Mosby is indicted saying that she has a connection to the Gray family attorney. And so the police union is being very transparent: They are asking for a sham investigation seeking no charges on their officers, by a "special prosecutor" who is connected to the city brass.
Marilyn Mosby is an emissary of Jesus Christ.
It is for such a time as this, that this young litigator has been appointed to an office to publicly try the men responsible for the death of Freddie Gray, and to try the system itself.
I am afraid nothing is clearer than the video that Freddie Gray was murdered. And I'm afraid if it does not result in a conviction, the American people will lose faith in the judicial process completely and irrevocably.
The police cannot keep beating these sorts of cases without the ordinary American wondering if the system is not functioning right. And an acquittal will be just as clear to police: You can kill Americans and the system will keep its own. And to America it will be clear: It is open season on the American people.
Who is Marilyn Mosby?
Marilyn Mosby is a third-generation public servant. Her father served with the Baltimore Police department. She also has other family who have served the public. Marilyn Mosby is a public servant, a jurist, and someone who has a deep understanding of the interrelationship between the public and the law. She understands the challenges of those working to keep the streets safe and as a black woman, the unique challenges black Americans face, in a country where there is a particularly aggressive prosecution against blacks, that reeks of profiling and discrimination.
In short, she is uniquely qualified to navigate the tricky intersection of the interests of law enforcement and the public.
It makes Gene Ryan's remarks even more remarkable in that Marilyn Mosby is a public servant herself, the daughter of public servants, and should be received by law enforcement as an ally, as two parties both seeking the judicious outcomes that result in criminal convictions and a fair procedure for all.
But Gene Ryan disagrees. For him, Marilyn Mosby, a sound litigator, really a virtue to our system, with an independent mind and not simply rushing to kowtow to the police association, is someone who has rushed to judgment (a judgment different from his). Marilyn Mosby, to him, is not a public servant. She is an ally to the parties who want to sink Baltimore into vice and destruction and she should recuse herself.
But it is really quite different. Marilyn Mosby is a virtuous prosecutor who believes in the sanctity of our process, and that it applies to the citizen and to those who enforce it alike. Gene Ryan, well, Gene Ryan and who he represents, believes that if they murder your people, a stacked prosecutor's office should refuse to indict, no questions asked. The rules that apply to you do not apply to him and his men. And a special prosecutor should be appointed, as Gene Ryan says, but to investigate the Baltimore Police Department, for a pattern of misconduct, of discrimination, and over 100 deaths of the detained while in police custody. No more of this police bureaus investigating the police. That didn't work.
Like biblical Queen Esther, Marilyn Mosby has been appointed to intervene on behalf of God's people, a people whose leadership has long forgotten them. Marilyn Mosby, your people are my people!
1. http://www.wusa9.com/story/news/local/maryland/2015/05/01/baltimore-fraternal-order-of-police-response-freddie-gray-charges/26723673/
2. http://reason.com/blog/2015/05/01/baltimore-police-union-open-letter-to-st#.auuecw:4N99
Zimmerman gave the police the "right" to kill. If a nonreal police can get away with murder, so can legitimate cops!
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