Several voices from the hip-hop community let their disappointment be known following the announcement that charges against all remaining officers on trial for the death of Freddie Gray have been dropped, on Wednesday (July 27). Among those who reacted were Compton rapper YG, who tweeted the name of his single "Police get away wit murder," and hashtagged #FreddieGray, and Atlanta's own Killer Mike, who called the decision's timing "Evil," after stating: “U kill us. Use our mothers as f***ing stage props for Dems & the next day announce all charges dropped in Freddie Gray’s murder."
Activist/rapper David Banner said his piece in a statement to AllHipHop, where he asked Black people to determine what such a decision ought to mean regarding appropriate actions to follow in its wake. “In the case of Freddie Gray, America has clearly shown that it has completely turned its back on Black people,” he said. “Apparently, the laws are not the same for the Police. We lose our lives; they get paid vacation. What are Black people to do about it is a better question!” A couple of weeks ago Banner made headlines when his suggestion that the Black community begins to consider using whatever means necessary [including violence], to fight police brutality, was combated by singer Lyfe Jennings during a town hall meeting that nearly broke out into a skirmish.
The three officers who were cleared on Wednesday were the last of an original six who stood trial in connection with the case. Gray was only 25-years-old when he suddenly died after falling into a coma. He died of a spinal cord injury that a medical examiner determined had occurred while being transported in the back of a police van, following his arrest. The officers involved were suspended with pay. As news of the incident, which was partially recorded on video, got around, it sparked national outrage that resulted in days of protest, that at times turned confrontational.
“We do not believe that Freddie Gray killed himself. We stand by the medical examiner’s determination that Freddie Gray’s death was a homicide,” said State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby, who led the prosecution. “However, after much thought and prayer, it has become clear to me that without being able to work with an independent investigatory agency from the very start, without having a say in the election of whether our cases proceed in front of a judge or jury, without communal oversight of policing in this community, without real substantive reforms to the current criminal justice system, we could try this case a hundred times, and cases just like it, and we would still end up with the same result.”
Source: theboombox.com
