After seeing grand juries decline to file charges against police in the well-publicized killings of black males in Ferguson, Mo., and New York, African-Americans nationwide were encouraged when Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced in May 2015 that charges would be filed against six police officers in the death of Freddie Gray.
It appeared that unarmed African-American victims of unjust police violence finally would see justice. But on Wednesday, even that glimmer of hope died when prosecutors dropped charges against the remaining three Baltimore police officers in the April 2015 death of 25-year-old Gray.
Gray suffered a neck injury after being taken into custody, handcuffed and put in a police van without safety restraints. Trials of three officers ended in acquittals.
A grand jury also declined to bring indictments in the Nov. 22, 2014, Cleveland police shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was playing outside with a toy gun.
Ferguson exploded in unrest after a state grand jury in November 2014 declined to indict the Ferguson police officer in the Aug. 9, 2014, shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown. The suburb of St. Louis had been the scene of violence after Brown's death.
The Justice Department also had declined to bring charges in the case. However, its investigation of policing in that city did uncover blatant unconstitutional racial profiling and African-Americans being used as a revenue stream for the city through arrests, ticketing and fines. Reforms have been put in place and are being monitored.
But excessive use of force against African-American males continues to erupt in cities nationwide with justice going begging.
A grand jury declined to indict officers in the July 17, 2014, killing of Eric Garner in New York, who was captured on cellphone video during the arrest repeatedly saying, "I can't breathe.
The tragedy behind the acquittals and charges being dropped in the Freddie Gray case in Baltimore is that expectations of justice were raised only to be dropped back into the status quo for people of color.
The decision also follows police killings of black men this month in Baton Rouge, La., and a suburb of St. Paul, Minn. Each also was captured on video. It is why the Black Lives Matter movement started after Brown's slaying grows in its cries for justice.
It's why Mothers of the Movement spoke out Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia to try to stop the violence and the overwhelming grief that follows for family members like them. The audience broke into applause and chants of "Black Lives Matter."
But the news earlier this month took a terrible turn when a lone sniper opened fire in Dallas at the end of a Black Lives Matter protest, killing five police officers and wounding others. Before he was killed with an explosive delivered by a remote-controlled robot, the black veteran said his intent was to kill as many white officers as he could in retaliation for the deaths of blacks.
Also this month, a 29-year-old black Kansas City man traveled to Baton Rouge, where he also opened fire on police in an ambush that took the lives of three officers and wounded three others.
More violence of any kind is no solution to the problem. People have to find a way forward through peace and nonviolence no matter how angry and frustrated they might be over the recurring killings.
ABOUT THE WRITER
Lewis Diuguid is a columnist for the Kansas City Star. Readers may email him at ldiuguid@kcstar.com.
