The Patriot Post® · Are the Charges Against the Baltimore Officers an Overreach?

The six police officers involved in the death of Freddie Gray have been tried in the court of public opinion and have been found guilty. Marilyn Mosby, who is three months into her job as Baltimore City State’s Attorney, threw the book at the six officers, pinning charges ranging from second degree depraved heart murder to second degree assault to false imprisonment. But those may be inflated charges carried along by the rhetoric of rioters in Baltimore’s streets, as Hot Air’s Jazz Shaw points out. As Mosby said at the press conference announcing the charges: “To the people of Baltimore and demonstrators across America, I heard your call for ‘No Justice, No peace.’” Furthermore, Mosby has connections that may become conflicts of interest. For example, she has a professional and personal relationship with Gray’s family lawyer. The Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police believed so strongly that an injustice was being committed with Mosby’s overreach on charges, it wrote an open letter. “None of the officers involved are responsible for the death of Mr. Gray,” president of the order Gene Ryan wrote. “To the contrary, at all times, each of the officers diligently balanced their obligations to protect Mr. Gray and discharge their duties to protect the public.” In overcharging the officers, Mosby may have simply embittered a mob that will break out in violence if it doesn’t receive what it demands.