Six Officers Indicted in Freddie Gray's Death

[Content Note: Police brutality; racism.]

Yesterday, a grand jury in Baltimore indicted all six police officers who had been charged in the death of Freddie Gray.

Baltimore state's attorney Marilyn Mosby announced on Thursday that some of the charges against the officers, whom she had already charged earlier in the month, had been amended.

"Additional information has been discovered and, as is often the case during an ongoing investigation, charges can and should be revised based on the evidence," Mosby said.

The most serious charges – of second-degree murder against officer Caesar Goodson, and involuntary manslaughter against four of the officers – were affirmed by the grand jury and remained unchanged.

...Mosby added that all six officers, who were freed on bail after posting bonds of several hundred thousand dollars each, would be arraigned in court on 2 July.

"Now that the grand jury has also found probable cause to charge the aforementioned officers based upon the evidence these officers who are presumed innocent until proven guilty, are now scheduled to be arraigned on July 2," Mosby said.

This is good news, in terms of working within the system we've got. But it is complicated news because the system we've got stinks.

Again, I want to recommend this piece by Prison Culture, who wisely notes that, even if these officers are convicted and even if they are sentenced, it will not truly be justice. Meaningful justice will only be achieved by dismantling the (in)justice system which is catastrophically contaminated by white supremacy.

Which is a daunting task to contemplate, but the enormity of the task before us shouldn't let us treat as justice what will be, at best, limited individual accountability in a comprehensively corrupt system.

Mychal Denzel Smith once wrote: "Justice for Renisha would have looked like Michael Brown being able to attend college. Justice for Trayvon would have looked like Renisha McBride getting the help she needed the night of her accident. Justice for Oscar Grant would have looked like Trayvon Martin making it home to finish watching the NBA All-Star game, Skittles and iced tea in tow. And so on, and so on. Justice should be the affirmation of our existence."

Real justice will be no more death.