At least one protestor was arrested outside a Baltimore courthouse Wednesday while the first pretrial hearing was taking place for the six police officers charged with the death of Freddie Gray.
“No justice, no peace! We want all 6 police!” chants rang out while protestors blocked a road briefly. However, police say most demonstrators are cooperating and not blocking the roads. Over 450 people responded that they plan to attend the People’s Power Assembly protest outside the courthouse, according to the group’s Facebook page.
Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby charged six police officers with 25-year-old Freddie Gray’s April death, which the coroner ruled a homicide. Gray, who was black, died from spinal injuries sustained while in police custody.
During the first pre-trial hearing of the Gray case Wednesday, Judge Barry Williams rejected a defense motion that prosecutor Marilyn Mosby recuse herself from the case. Defense attorneys argued that Mosby’s very public statements amount to activism and that she should recuse herself because her campaign received a donation from one of the Gray family attorneys last year.
“I’ve heard your call for ‘no justice, no peace,'” Mosby said to the cameras when she announced the charges in April. “However, your peace is sincerely needed as I work to deliver justice for Freddie Gray.”
“She was urging everyone, including potential jurors, to exact vengeance,” argued Andrew Graham, an attorney for Officer Caesar R. Goodson Jr., in court Wednesday, saying that her comments make a fair trial “impossible.”
The judge said he found Mosby’s comments “troubling” but that “they do not rise to the level” of having the charges against the officers dismissed or prevent the officers from receiving a fair trial, CNN reported.
He also called a defense argument that Mosby should recuse herself because her husband Nick is a councilman in a district that experienced heavy rioting “condescending.”
The judge will decide at a 2 p.m. hearing Wednesday whether the six officers can be tried together, or separately as the defense has requested. Next Thursday at a separate hearing, defense attorneys will argue that the officers cannot get a fair trial in Baltimore and that the case should be moved to another Maryland county.
Gray’s death sparked waves of violent protests and looting within Baltimore and around the country.
“We demand that the officers be indicted, convicted, and jailed! No change of venue!” the People’s Power Assembly wrote on their Facebook page announcing Wednesday’s protests.
