Rep. Donna Edwards on Sunday endorsed Baltimore state’s attorney Marilyn Mosby’s controversial decision to quickly charge six officers in the death of Freddie Gray following days of rioting in the city.
There is overpolicing, she said, and it’s caused her to warn her own son to be careful around the police.
“I think she did an amazing job laying out the reasons for a probable cause finding,” Edwards said on “Fox News Sunday.” “This is the beginning of the process, not the end of it.”
Edwards, a Democrat representing Prince George’s County, is running to win Maryland’s open U.S. Senate seat.
She said she does not believe Mosby acted too quickly or in a political manner, despite Mosby’s announcement promising protesters in Baltimore that she would “seek justice” on their behalf.
“There is no requirement to go to a grand jury,” Edwards said. “She received the findings of the investigation and then she acted.”
Edwards said she expects “a more intense look” at the city’s police department in the wake of Gray’s death.
Edwards said governments are investing too much money incarcerating people rather than investing in schools and economic development in poor urban areas.
“I would say there is an overpolicing that is going on, not just in Baltimore but across the country,” Edwards said. “That is something we have to evaluate as a matter of public policy.”
Edwards said she talks with her son about dealing with the police.
“I say to him, if you have an interaction with law enforcement, make sure it is respectful; make sure you don’t put your hands in any place law enforcement can’t see,” Edwards said. “The most important thing to me is that he’s safe. And we come from a middle class family. Imagine the interactions other mothers and fathers are having with their sons and daughters, too.”
