I was not surprised by the acquittal Monday of Baltimore Police Officer Edward Nero in a trial related to the 2015 death of Freddie Gray, a black man who was arrested and suffered a catastrophic neck injury while in police custody.
Prosecutors charged Nero, 30, with second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and two counts of misconduct in office. They said Nero acted without regard for Gray’s safety by failing to place a seat belt on Gray, who was shackled and placed on his stomach in the back of a police van.
It’s not that I believe Nero was innocent. I don’t. He and the other officers involved in Gray’s death clearly failed to follow police rules when they neglected to secure Gray with a seat belt. And please don’t tell me they didn’t know what they were doing. Police officers have long used “nickel rides” — the practice of inflicting injury on prisoners by allowing them to ride unsecured in police vans.
Protesters knew the police were wrong. That’s why they took to the streets. The city of Baltimore knew the officers were wrong. That’s why it agreed to pay $6.4 million to Gray’s family. The coroner knew the police were wrong, and the coroner’s report, in my view, remains the most truthful thing I’ve heard about the death of Freddie Gray.
“Mr. Gray’s neck injury occurred while in custody, in and during transport in the police van,” the coroner’s report says. “Safety equipment was available but not used. Therefore, it was not an unforeseen event (a medico-legal definition of an accident) that a vulnerable individual was injured during operation of the vehicle, and that without prompt medical attention, the injury would prove fatal. Due to the failure of following established safety procedures through acts of omission, the manner of death is best certified as Homicide.”
Homicide. Let that word sink in for a moment. It means someone’s life was unlawfully taken. It means someone must pay.
In a murder case in which everyone, from the police, to the community, to the government, to the prosecutors know that someone’s life has been unlawfully taken, prosecutors must act with authority. They must act with confidence. They must act with the single-minded focus they need in order to get a conviction.
That didn’t happen in this case. Instead, prosecutors, under the supervision of State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, pursued a strategy that seemed fatally flawed from the beginning. In essence, prosecutors argued that Gray should not have been arrested in the first place. Then they charged Nero with second-degree assault, arguing that because Nero had no reason to arrest Gray, the act of handcuffing and detaining him was an assault.
That’s an unorthodox argument at best, and a ridiculous one at worst.
Police officers handcuff people. Sometimes they do so unjustly. But it’s a stretch to call it an assault.
The judge clearly didn’t believe the prosecution proved its case, so Nero is left to deal with what will surely be a wrist slap from the Baltimore Police Department at the completion of the department’s internal investigation of Gray’s death.
For those who share my belief that Gray’s death is indicative of a national problem when it comes to many police interactions in black communities, Nero’s acquittal is discouraging. So was the case of Officer William Porter, whose trial for his involvement in Freddie Gray’s death ended in a hung jury.
But there is still the chance for justice. Five other officers face charges in Gray’s death.
Because a man was killed through the negligence and reckless disregard of those police officers, I believe there must be a conviction. Because the taxpayers of Baltimore are on the hook for the $6.4 million paid by the city, I believe there must a conviction. Because the rule of law must be applied equally, whether we’re police officers or regular citizens, I believe there must be a conviction.
That means prosecutors must do a better job of proving what the coroner could clearly see in the broken neck of Freddie Gray.
A homicide was committed on the day Gray was fatally injured in that police van. If black lives truly matter in our justice system, prosecutors must make sure someone pays.
Solomon Jones is a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News. Readers may email him at sjsolomonjones.com