High stakes for Baltimore as Freddie Gray trials begin
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High stakes for Baltimore as Freddie Gray trials begin
In Baltimore, this year can be divided into two parts: what came before Freddie Gray died and what happened afterward. Gray, 25, died after suffering a mysterious injury in the back of a police transport van, inspiring thousands to take to the streets to protest what they believed was the mistreatment by police of another young black man. The narrative of Gray’s life and death instantly became a thread in the fabric of the Black Lives Matter national movement. Jury selection for the trial of William Porter, the first of six police officers indicted in Gray’s death, begins today.
Everything is at stake. The future of the city is at stake.
Police Commissioner Kevin Davis
If Porter — who faces charges of assault, manslaughter, reckless endangerment and misconduct — is acquitted, that could lead to more protests and unrest and send shock waves through the city’s already troubled police department. After Gray’s burial, businesses were burned down, and rioting and looting cost the city millions of dollars in property damage. The unrest forced an incumbent mayor in the throes of a re-election campaign to drop out of the race, and toppled the career of a reform-minded police chief who was unceremoniously fired. Nearly eight months after the city burned, the stakes for police, politicians and the public remain high.
If it doesn’t go over well. … They’ll shut things down. … If we have more riots, who will feel safe? The world is watching Baltimore.
Duane “Shorty” Davis, community activist
