Baltimore residents disappointed Gray report kept secret

Yamiche Alcindor | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Raw: Baltimore curfew In place for third night The curfew in Baltimore, Maryland is in place for a third straight night. Streets are reported to be quiet, although one man was handcuffed after yelling at police. (May 1)

BALTIMORE — Residents who expected to learn the details about the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody faced disappointment Thursday as police turned their investigation over to prosecutors Thursday without revealing its contents to the public.

Since Gray's death, protests that culminated in rioting Monday have consumed the city, prompting a citywide curfew and the arrival of the National Guard.

The criminal investigation into Gray's death "is now in the hands of the office of the state's attorney, which is also conducting its own independent investigation," Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said.

"I ask that everyone remain patient and vigilant on this path to justice." she said.

State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby will determine whether any of the police officers involved in the case will face criminal charges, she said. After the criminal investigation concludes, the police department can begin its internal disciplinary process, she said. The U.S. Department of Justice also is investigating the case.

Mosby said in a statement that her office is already familiar with the contents of the police department investigation.

"We have been briefed regularly throughout their process while simultaneously conducting our own independent investigation," she said. "While we have and will continue to leverage the information received by the department, we are not relying solely on their findings but rather the facts that we have gathered and verified."

Mosby asked for patience, peace and "trust the process of the justice system."

Gray, a 25-year-old black man, died April 19, a week after his arrest by police. Gray and another man ran when three police officers on bicycles tried to stop them on April 12. Police eventually caught Gray, held him down, handcuffed him and loaded him into a police van. Baltimore Police Deputy Commissioner Kevin Davis, who is leading the investigation, said Gray should have received medical attention then, but did not explain why.

Mitchum Alexander, 46, of Baltimore, didn't realize the report would be kept away from the public. He had been anticipating a "verdict," he said. Now, he is just hoping to see justice for Gray's family.

"Something needs to be done with what happened to Freddie Gray," Alexander said. "Incidents like this should not occur on a daily, weekly, monthly or even yearly basis."

Yvonne Rice, 55, of Baltimore, said she is stunned to learn the report won't be public and it makes her suspicious of something nefarious. Rice said city officials should not have publicized that the report would be released Friday if they were not prepared to share it with the public. Now, she fears people may again riot and loot when they realize they won't get answers.

"They are hiding something," said Rice, who works in housekeeping at Johns Hopkins University. "People need to know what's going on or the National Guard will be here forever. People are going to act out."

Johns Hopkins University sophomore Elena House-Hay said she is disappointed.

"They should be more transparent," she said. "People have a right to know what's going on."

Jamal Bryant, pastor of Empowerment Temple in Baltimore, called police "shameful" for telling the public about the report's release date but not giving residents more details about Gray's death.

"It's a contrived, botched public relations campaign from the police department trying to save themselves, their brand and rewrite the narrative," Bryant said. "It's insulting to the intelligence of the citizens of this city."

He also said explanations for not releasing the reports were "malarkey" and that officials are unjustly "cherry-picking" information that they want.

"It's going to make our job a lot harder to speak for calm for the city," he said.

Pastor Heber Brown, 34, said the day-early transfer of the police report to the state's attorney indicates the protests are bringing pressure to bear on city officials.

"The police were really hoping this would go away and that people just would forget about it," said Brown, who leads the Pleasant Hope Baptist Church. "We have forced the police to do what they didn't want to do--to submit a report in a timely way and to get on the right track of having some sort of resolution around what happens to these officers."





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Still, he's frustrated the he won't learn the details of the investigation Friday.

"We know a man named Freddie Gray is dead but we don't know what happened in that paddywagon," Brown said, referring to the police van used to transport Gray and another man. "They need to tell it all. When you show nothing, you leave room for people to create in their own minds what they want to believe and you give legs to perceptions that may be off base."

A coalition of activists say they will march from Mosby's office to city hall Friday to demand "rapid prosecution" of police officers involved in Gray's killing and legal changes to ensure police are held responsible when they break the law. The group initially thought the march would coincide with the release of the police report.

Elizabeth Alex, a lead organizer in Baltimore with CASA, a nonprofit that focuses on immigrant rights, says demonstrators will ask Mosby to act quick quickly and transparently.

"People want ultimately the officers responsible for Freddie Gray's death held accountable," she said.

Alex hopes organized protests will channel growing anger over the lack of information.

"I'm hopeful that by giving people an outlet that will be peaceful and organized that we can show the power of the community and clearly demonstrate the priorities and the demands without resorting to violence," she said.