Clockwise from top left: Officer Caesar Goodson; Lt. Brian Rice; Sgt. Alicia White; Officer Garrett Miller; Officer William Porter; and Officer Edward Nero.
On Wednesday, a Baltimore judge ruled out dismissing charges against six officers for their role in the death of Freddie Gray.
The Baltimore Police have been crying wolf ever since these officers were arrested after Mr. Gray died of bodily injuries incurred after his encounter with police, last April 12, in West Baltimore.
Will police—and those who write police policy—ever admit there is something seriously wrong within the culture of America’s police departments, especially as it relates to the policing of Black people?
At Wednesday’s hearing, Judge Barry G. Williams rejected the notion that charges should be dropped against: Lt. Brian Rice, Sgt. Alicia D. White, Officer Edward M. Nero, Officer Garrett E. Miller, Officer William. G. Porter and Officer Caesar R. Goodson. White, Rice and Porter are charged with involuntary manslaughter and Nero and Miller face second-degree assault charges.
Defense lawyers had been arguing that prosecutor Carolyn Mosby should be removed, because she had supposedly showed partiality in her statements about the behavior of these police officers. According to these officers, she defamed them in her statements, which they say is prejudicial towards them.
This line of reasoning shows the hypocrisy and double-standard police and people in power often operated under.
What is so out-of-the ordinary about a prosecutor seeking convictions saying a “perp” is guilty of the crime they are being charged of? Don’t prosecutors routinely show partiality against arrested suspects? African-Americans, who are arrested are always castigated—even before they’re convicted. America’s court machinations doesn’t allow prosecutors to be impartiality, since prosecutors are expected to believe that those they charge are guilty.
Another specious charge being made against Mosby is that there is some kind of conflict of interest here because her husband is a local legislator. Here’s a question for these police, and their apologists: isn’t it a conflict of interest when prosecutors rig trials—and the grand jury system—so they can exonerate police officers when they commit murder? After all, prosecutors work with and depend on police to make their own cases. Isn’t it clear this is what happened in the Eric Garner and Michael Brown cases?
Police think they should not be held accountable for brutalizing and murdering Black people. Mosby, to her credit, seems to want to prosecute these killer cops in the way “normal” prosecutors would any other person who takes the life of innocent people. Unfortunately, prosecutors are often concocting ways to exonerate racist police officers who kill Black people.
Over the last year, we’ve seen many outrages and murders done by police all over the country. Congress, for the most part, has been tellingly silent all this time. Even when video images expose criminals who abuse and hide behind badges brutalizing and murdering Black people—like the video showing the cold-blooded murder of Walter Scott in South Carolina —these upstanding, “law and order” politicians engage in a conspiracy of silence.
The silence of America’s political class is proof positive Black lives matter little to these people—who wield maximum political power over the institution of America’s police.
However, now that a few officers have tragically lost their lives parasitic politicians are now conniving to blame activists—specifically, the Black Lives Matter people—for these recent killings. Moreover, as the newspaper Daily Kos showed in a recent article, this year the deaths of police officers is down, significantly.
In fact, some of these police deaths are not homicides—and of those that were homicides half of those officers were Black, an important fact to keep in mind. And, how many of these shootings of police were perpetrated by Black people?
The fact that relatively few police—especially, White ones—are killed by Black people doesn’t seem to faze these people from trying to make it seem that somehow there is some sort of escalating violence against police. This is nothing more than the latest white-washing attempt, by political police apologists to muddy up the real debate that needs to be had regarding the institutional racism that is negatively impacting the lives of Black America.
This transparent attempt to delegitimize those who are fighting to hold police accountable for their vicious attacks on Black America must be vigorously denounced.
We cannot let these immoral folk bully us into silence.
Enter presidential wannabes Senator Ted Cruz and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Both of these Republicans could not be heard at any time in the last year saying anything about the racism we witnessed with regularity by police across the country. Like, most of the Republican Party—and far too many in the Democratic Party—they clearly didn’t give a damn about the police abuse and murder of Black people.
However, since the recent killing of a few officers these people are out there spouting vile lies, insinuating police protests are putting the lives of officers at risk. People don’t just wake up and go to demonstrate; people protest specific actions and outrages. Who other than someone out of their mind would oppose protest against the cold-blooded killing of Scott?
If, police lives are being put at risk, it is those who create police policy—and who control the police—who are putting those lives at risk. Do any of these politicos have the moral fortitude to admit America’s police departments are plagued with racism?
Both Senator Cruz and Governor Walker accused President Obama of encouraging hatred for police. This charge is so ludicrous and could only be made by Republicans like these people. In fact, President Obama is just as reticent as most American politicians to speak with complete honestly on the serious problems that must, eventually, be addressed with respect to the lawlessness we see in police departments—especially, when they are dealing with Black folk.
What is really going on here?
Cruz and Walker, and others in the political class, are no doubt upset over the Justice Department’s scathing indictment of the Ferguson police and courts. The Justice Department report, on Ferguson, was a snapshot of how America’s criminal “justice” usually works for Black people—even though Ferguson may’ve been an extreme example. All of America is like Ferguson, when they are dealing with African-Americans.
If Republicans had any ounce of humanity or integrity, why have they not articulated that “no one is above the law” including police who victimize and murder Black people? We hear their grandstanding rhetoric when they are busy making baseless claims accusing President Obama of violating some supposed law. But somehow these Republicans, who like to pretend they have honesty and integrity make dumb statements to excuse the inexcusable.
The fact is the entire political power structure is guilty of this situation we find ourselves in—where Black people have more reason to fear the police than anyone. The function of America’s police was never to “serve and protect” Black people.
Its function has always been to “serve and protect” rich and politically connected White people—that has been it purpose since the days of the Plantation Police and Slave Patrols.
The forward momentum pushing for police restructuring must continue. If we have to politically bulldoze our way through naysayers like Senator Cruz, Governor Walker and the thug element that has been operating with impunity in America’s police departments then so be it.
