The Justice Department announced Tuesday that it will not prosecute six Baltimore police officers in the 2015 death of Freddie Gray.
In a statement, the DOJ said it found “insufficient evidence to support federal criminal civil rights charges” against the officers.
“After an extensive review of this tragic event, conducted by career prosecutors and investigators, the Justice Department concluded that the evidence is insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Caesar Goodson, Officer William Porter, Officer Garrett Miller, Officer Edward Nero, Lieutenant Brian Rice, or Sergeant Alicia White willfully violated Gray’s civil rights,” a DOJ statement said.
Gray died in April 2015 after sustaining a neck injury while in police custody — his death spurring massive protests and riots in Baltimore.
In July 2016, Baltimore prosecutors dropped charges against three of the officers, while the other three had previously been acquitted.
Reps. Elijah Cummings, John Sarbanes and Dutch Ruppersberger and Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen said they were “disappointed” by the Justice Department’s decision, but added: “We are not surprised.”
“In light of this reported decision, we are once again calling on DOJ to actively support — not undermine — the consent decree and to provide Baltimore with all federal resources available to improve our police force. Doing anything less would be unconscionable,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement.
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