The Freddie Gray Verdict

The verdict by Judge Barry Williams that Baltimore police officer Caesar Goodson is not guilty of second degree murder of Freddie Gray is a travesty of justice.  The judicial system in Baltimore, as in every other city and state in the country, is saying that Black lives do not matter.  The fact remains: Freddie Gray has been murdered and the system says that no one is responsible.

This is a blanket indictment of the entire criminal justice system.

1,000 dead at the hands of police in the last year.  So far, no one is guilty.  Freddie Gray, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Laquan McDonald, Rekia Boyd, Flint Farmer, Ronald Johnson, …. we are tired of the endless list of police crime victims.  We are tired, and we say, this must stop now!

It is difficult not to give in to frustration.  But there is an answer: put the power over the police into the hands of the communities that are being policed.  The only way to control the police is to allow the community to choose their own representatives directly, through an all-elected, all-Civilian Police Accountability Council.

The ordinance, proposed by the Chicago Alliance, for an all-elected Civilian Police Accountability Council can be a model for the whole country, as Michael Brunson, Recording Secretary of the Chicago Teachers Union, said this week outside the City Council Chamber.  Brunson was joining over 1,000 teachers and community people demanding community control.

And we have news for Alds. Ed Burke, and Chris Taliafero: there is no statute of limitations on the crime of murder.  Your ordinance to wipe out complaints against police officers after five years will not stand the test of the law.  Instead of the tears you are shedding for police officers who commit crimes you might better serve your community by doing something to stop police crimes.

CPAC is the answer to the problem.  Pass CPAC NOW!