Glorida Darden, mother of Freddie Gray, during a recent press conference
Baltimore, MD — It’s happened again. Last year, 25-year old Freddie Gray, an African American man, was arrested and died while in police custody in Baltimore, Maryland. This year, all charges have been dropped against the six police officers that were involved.Gray was arrested for allegedly possessing an illegal switchblade. Responding officers also say that he “fled unprovoked upon noticing police presence.” He was then placed unrestrained in a police van and transported to the city jail. But when officers attempted to remove Gray from the van, he was found no longer breathing appearing to have suffered from a cardiac arrest according to responding medics. He underwent surgery at Shock Trauma, and later died.
Naturally, this sparked a national outrage amongst African Americans across the country, who were already upset about several other police brutality incidents involving unarmed African American men. Many suspected that Gray was intentionally harmed and killed by the police officers while being transported. One theory was that the driver of the police van purposely slammed on the brakes, knowing that Gray was unrestrained in the back of the vehicle.
But those theories did not hold up in court. Not one of the police officers involved in Gray’s arrest and transporation to city jail will be punished in anyway, and all are free to return to the force.
Gray’s mom, Glorida Darden, told reporters, “It was wrong what they did to my son, they lied and I know they lied. I know they killed him.”
Darden also praised Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby who announced and pursued charges against the officers last May. “She did a good thing,” Darden said. “I’m going to keep on trusting her with my son… to get justice.”
Watch the press conference below: