BALTIMORE — The six suspended Baltimore police officers charged Friday in the death of Freddie Gray are a mix of veterans and recent recruits, of varying ranks and assignments. Three of them are black and three of them are white.
Theirs were once lives of anonymous uniformed service but now the five men and one woman have been thrust into the center of one of the nation’s most volatile police controversies. The charges arise from the death of a man who prosecutors say was illegally arrested, bound at his hands and feet and left to fend for himself in a moving police van without the aid of a seatbelt, and then denied timely medical care when he called out for it.
Many activists on the streets of Baltimore on Friday expressed relief and jubilation at the charges, viewing the death of Mr. Gray as the latest instance of American peace officers treating a black life with a shocking callousness. In their view, the officers represent the all-too-common horror of urban law enforcement, in both its cruelty and its routine disregard for human life.
Homicide Charges in Gray Case Announced
Marilyn J. Mosby, the state’s attorney for Baltimore, said that Freddie Gray’s arrest was illegal and that there was probable cause to file manslaughter charges against the police officers involved.
May 1, 2015.Photo by Gabriella Demczuk for The New York Times.
And yet, at the same time, family and colleagues rallied around the officers, declaring their innocence and praising their work.
“Not one of the officers involved in this tragic situation left home in the morning with the anticipation that someone with whom they interacted would not go home that night,” Gene Ryan, president of Baltimore’s Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3, said in a letter to Marilyn J. Mosby, the state’s attorney who announced the charges with surprising swiftness Friday morning. “As tragic as this situation is, none of the officers involved are responsible for the death of Mr. Gray.”
The most senior officer charged on Friday was Lt. Brian Rice, 41, a 17-year-veteran of the force. Lieutenant Rice, who is white, was the subject in 2013 of a temporary restraining order in Carroll County, Md. A final order in the case was denied.
His lawyer could not be reached for comment.
According to prosecutors, Lieutenant Rice was the officer who initially made eye contact with Mr. Gray while on a bicycle patrol in one of Baltimore’s most distressed neighborhoods, chasing him on foot when he fled. Officers Garrett E. Miller, 26, and Edward M. Nero, 29 — both of whom are white and joined the force in 2012 — caught Mr. Gray as he fled through the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood, handcuffing him with his arms behind his back, Ms. Mosby said.
Along with Lieutenant Rice, they “failed to establish probable cause” for arresting Mr. Gray, Ms. Mosby said.
The three men then loaded Mr. Gray into a police van but failed to belt him in, as called for by police regulations, Ms. Mosby added.
Officer Caesar R. Goodson Jr., 45, a 16-year veteran of the force who is black, was the driver of the van. Officer Goodson, Ms. Mosby said, also failed to buckle Mr. Gray with a seatbelt. It was because Mr. Gray was handcuffed and shackled by his feet but not belted in that he suffered a “critical neck injury,” Ms. Mosby said.
Officer William G. Porter, 25, also joined the force in 2012. He met up with the van after Officer Goodson called dispatchers and asked for an officer to come check on Mr. Gray. Ms. Mosby said that Officer Porter, who is black, neglected, along with Officer Goodson, to respond to Mr. Gray’s plea for medical assistance.
President Obama on Freddie Gray Charges
The president commented on the filing of homicide, manslaughter and misconduct charges against police officers in the death of Mr. Gray.
By Reuters on May 1, 2015. Photo by Doug Mills/The New York Times.
The van was eventually met by Sgt. Alicia White, 30, a black officer who joined the force in 2010. Ms. Mosby said Sergeant White spoke to Mr. Gray, but “did nothing further” when he did not respond, even though she knew he had requested a medic.
The allegations of inattention stood in stark contrast to the description of Sergeant White provided on Friday by her friend Dana Neal, a nondenominational minister.
“She wanted to be a police officer because she is a Christian and wants to be a good role model for young black women,” said Ms. Neal, who attended Ms. White’s promotion ceremony. “And she wanted to be that good cop in the community and bridge the gap between the police and the neighborhoods.”
Ms. Neal, filled with incredulity at Sergeant White’s arrest, said that she “basically adopted me as her aunt about two and a half years ago.” Sergeant White attended a book signing by Ms. Neal in 2013, bringing along her fiancé, Ms. Neal said. “My book was an inspirational book to help people get through tough times,” Ms. Neal said. “I guess she could really use that right now.”
When Officer Nero joined the Baltimore Police Department, it was no surprise to those who knew him. His father said that Officer Nero had joined the Washington Township Fire Department in Gloucester County, N.J., as a volunteer while he was still a high school student.
The father, a Florida resident also named Edward Nero, said in an interview Friday afternoon that he, too, had been a volunteer firefighter, and that his son was following in his footsteps.
“He was a certified E.M.T. with the state of New Jersey, and that’s why I know for a fact that my son did not hurt this kid,” said Mr. Nero, 49. “And if this kid needed medical attention my son would have been the first one to give it to him.”
The younger Mr. Nero continued to work long hours as a volunteer fireman while holding down a full-time job. Eventually, he joined the Baltimore police in part because the department offered to pay for his training, his father said.
But Officer Nero also took great pride in patrolling some of Baltimore’s toughest neighborhoods, his father said. That pride was evident when he joined his son on a ride-along in March, he said, although the father came away shocked by how old and run-down the officers’ equipment seemed to be.
TIMELINE
The Timeline of Freddie Gray’s Arrest and the Charges Filed
A timeline of the events that preceded his death.
Officer Nero is married with a 1-year-old daughter, his father said, adding that he is warm and personable, and has talked about running for political office in the future. Today, his father said, that dream seemed out of reach.
“Myself and my family really believe he’ll be exonerated, but in the meantime, he’ll have to go through hell to do so,” he said. “It’ll probably destroy his life, his career and his motivation to help other people.”
Michael Davey, a lawyer whose firm is representing Lieutenant Rice and who said he was speaking on behalf of all six officers, said that none of them had done anything wrong. He described Lieutenant Rice as a man who has “dedicated his life to serving the public.”
After announcing the charges on the steps of Baltimore’s neoclassical War Memorial building, Ms. Mosby stressed that the charges should not be viewed as a criticism of the entire department. She noted that both her mother and father had been police officers.
“To the rank-and-file officers of the Baltimore Police Department, please know that these accusations of these six officers are not an indictment on the entire force,” she said.
But an official in Baltimore’s Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 expressed outrage over the charges, saying that Ms. Mosby has a striking conflict of interest.
“The union believes it is political,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the case. “It is a witch hunt.”
Referring to the protests of the past week, some of which turned violent, the official further stated: “They are trying to buy peace here.”
The union official said it was “very problematic” that William Murphy Jr., the lawyer representing the Gray family, has a direct political link to Ms. Mosby. Mr. Murphy served on Ms. Mosby’s transition team for her current job and donated several thousand dollars to her campaign for state attorney in Baltimore.
The union official also pointed out that Ms. Mosby’s husband, Nick Mosby, is a member of the Baltimore City Council who sits on the Public Safety Committee. The official said that the union views the City Council and the mayor as not supportive enough of the police and that they have backed changes to the police and fire pension systems that union officials oppose.
To Ms. Neal, matters of municipal politics and criminal law did not take precedence over her desire to support Sergeant White’s family. Despite the anger that has spread over the death of Mr. Gray, and the relief that many here expressed at the arrest of the officers, Ms. Neal said she would stay committed to her friend.
“I had prayers with her mom over the case,” she said.
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