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US Judge Exonerates Killer Cop
Stephen Lendman
Unaccountable killer cops nationwide turn US streets and minority communities into battlegrounds - killing 1,000 or more largely innocent victims annually, brutalizing and injuring many thousands more.
On April 12, 2015, six Baltimore cops were involved in Freddie Gray’s murder. He committed no crimes, was arrested on bogus charges, brutalized too severely in custody to save him.
His spine was 80% severed at his neck. He suffered three fractured vertebrae. His larynx was injured.
He lapsed into a coma. On April 19, 2015, he died - a week after his arrest. Street protests followed. Authorities and militarized cops responded violently as expected. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency. A curfew was imposed.
Around 2,000 combat trained National Guard troops were deployed on Baltimore streets. After ignoring the incident and initial peaceful protests, Obama blamed victims for killer cop violence, urging justifiably angry area protesters be “treated as criminals.”
He's done nothing to address major nationwide grievances affecting America's most disadvantaged - especially persecuted, neglected and exploited Blacks and Latinos.
On May 23, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams (in a bench trial) exonerated officer Edward Nero of all charges in 25-year-old Freddie Gray’s death - including second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and two counts of misconduct.
He faces a likely whitewash police department administrative review. He was one of six cops involved in Gray’s brutalization and murder.
William Porter’s trial last December ended in a hung jury. On June 6, officer Ceasar Goodson will be tried, followed by Brian Rice on July 5, Garrett Miller on July 27, Porter’s retrial on September 6, and Alicia White on October 13 - each on charges ranging from assault to manslaughter to murder.
Black Lives Matter figure De-Ray Mckesson twittered “#FreddieGray should be alive today.”
New York Daily News columnist Shaun King minced no words, twittering “(w)ith yet another clearance of an officer in the death of #FreddieGray - the justice system completely fails us.”
The New York Times downplayed Monday’s ruling, saying Judge Williams considered officer Nero “a bit player.” He was an accessory to cold-blooded murder, yet got off scot-free.
Cops in America kill with impunity - protecting privilege from beneficial social change. Freddie Gray’s lawless arrest and cold-blooded killing would never happen to a member of an upscale white community.
Inner city Black ones nationwide are virtual war zones - as violent and hostile to civil and human rights as Occupied Palestine.
Change is only possible through revolutionary activism. Things are too corrupted to fix any other way.
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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network
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