Jury selection has started in the trial of the first of six police officers facing criminal charges in connection to the death of Freddie Gray, the Baltimore man who died earlier this year after being taken into police custody.
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The death of Freddie Gray, 25, followed police killings of black men in other cities, including NY and Ferguson, Missouri, that gave rise to the Black Lives Matter movement, which has staged more than year of mostly peaceful protests across the United States. At the end, officers found Gray unresponsive.
Porter faces second-degree assault, involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office charges.
On April 12, 2015, Gray was apprehended by police near Baltimore’s Gilmor Homes housing project after he fled from them.
Gray sustained a severe spinal cord injury while riding in a police van and died a week later. Gray’s mother, Gloria Darden, joined in with the protests, openly sharing her grief.
Locally, Porter’s trial is expected to be watched closely by residents, public officials and civil rights leaders.
The process offered a glimpse into the upcoming proceedings: Williams read a list of more than 200 potential witnesses, and told the prospective jurors that the trial would not go past December 17.
Porter’s trial is the first of what will likely be six bruising and emotionally charged hearings for each of the other officers involved in the case.
T incident sparked waves of protests in Baltimore that escalated into days of rioting. Williams rejected those requests, saying the trial should be heard by Baltimore jurors, though he also left open the possibility that the case could be moved if an impartial jury couldn’t be found.
Also Monday, federal authorities said an online threat that led the University of Chicago to cancel classes during the day targeted whites and was motivated by the Chicago teenager’s shooting.
Two dozen potential jurors said they could not serve for reasons including a planned trip or or a medical condition preventing them from sitting for more than an hour.
Prosecutors believe Porter, Goodson and White ignored Gray’s injuries and contributed to his death. Porter said in an interview with The Washington Post that Gray was known to officers as a “frequent flyer” with several arrests dating back to his teens.
The Republican governor said Monday that a security team in his administration has been working with the city’s police commissioner and the state police superintendent.
When Gray was arrested, he was initially handcuffed. Porter indicated that he knew of a previous arrest in which Gray allegedly tried to kick out the windows of a police vehicle.
Without an incumbent in the mayoral race, there are beneficiaries, including former mayor Sheila Dixon, who was forced to resign after being convicted of embezzling $500 in gift cards for poor children.
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Republican Gov. Larry Hogan said Monday that Maryland has been preparing for any disturbances related to the trials ever since he called in the National Guard to help restore order in April.
