Of the Baltimore Six, Officer Edward Nero was always the least likely to be convicted of anything, because he had the least contact with the infamous small-time crook Freddie Gray. State prosecutor Marilyn Mosby cast as big a net as possible in order to pad her scalp haul with an eye toward a future meteoric national political rise, and Nero got snagged.
But he and his legal eagles were canny enough to opt for a bench, as opposed to tampered-jury, trial, and that has now resulted in Officer Nero's complete acquittal on all charges, and his and the judge's lives falling under grave danger of extreme prejudicial termination:
Baltimore police officer Edward Nero was acquitted on Monday of all charges in the 2015 death of black detainee Freddie Gray, an incident that triggered rioting and protests and fueled the Black Lives Matter movement.
Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams, who heard the case in a bench trial, issued the verdict before a packed courtroom. Nero, thirty, had faced misdemeanor charges of second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and two counts of misconduct in office.
There were no initial signs of rioting after the verdict but a group of protesters chased members of Nero's family into a parking garage, yelling, "No justice, no peace."
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake issued a statement urging calm and said Nero would face an administrative review by the police department.
That's awfully weak-tea consolation for the #BlackLivesMatter mob. It makes you wonder whether the pitchforks and Molotov cocktails might not be coming out for Mayor Blake next.
As I say, Nero was the least of the Baltimore Six, and therefore his acquittal should be, on balance least likely to reignite mass rioting. And Marilyn Mosby still has four more to go to "redeem" herself. But her grotesque over-charging and partisan grandstanding and pandering to the Black Klan insurrectionists and Communist Party USA revolutionaries has her off to an 0-2 start, and if that trend continues throughout the remaining four trials, "Charm City" may - will - wind up a gigantic charcoal briquette for the second year in a row.
Exit question: Say, wouldn't Baltimore make a great venue for the 2020 Democrat or Republican National Convention?
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