Stephanie Rawlings-Blake Blasts Marilyn Mosby
Things are getting messy in Baltimore between Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and State’s Attorney/Activist Marilyn Mosby.
After Mosby admitted in a New York Times article that she “screamed” at the Mayor that she was responsible for rioting after Freddie Gray’s death, Rawlings-Blake fired back and said that Mosby “gave in to political pressure” when she quickly charged six police officers for Gray’s demise.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake accused State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby on Wednesday of rushing to charge the six police officers accused in the death of Freddie Gray before completing a thorough investigation.
Rawlings-Blake said Mosby could have told the public she needed more time in the spring of 2015 to conduct a careful and complete investigation, rather than immediately announcing charges that produced no convictions.
“The political pressure is real when you are in big jobs, and you can’t bow to the political pressure and charge when you’re not ready,” she said. “You have to stand up, be in the big role and say to the people … you need time to continue to investigate.”
Rawlings-Blake spoke after The New York Times Magazine published a profile Wednesday of Mosby and her reflections on her office’s failure to convict the six officers involved in the arrest and death of Gray.
Gray, a 25-year-old Baltimore man, died in April 2015 after suffering a severe spinal cord injury in police custody. On the day of his funeral, the city erupted in riots, looting and arson.
Within days, Mosby announced charges against the six officers. But three were acquitted, and prosecutors dropped all charges against the rest.
According to Mosby, not only was Mayor Rawlings-Blake to blame for rioting but Police Commissioner Anthony Batts who putout misinformation and caused distrust with the public. Mosby revealed to the NY Times that she hung up on the mayor.
In the magazine profile, Mosby accuses the mayor and then-Police Commissioner Anthony Batts of putting out misinformation to the public — including the number of stops made by the police van that carried Gray— and setting artificial timetables.
“First Batts said there were three stops, and we knew at that point there were four or five,” Mosby told the magazine. “So I sat down with them and said: ‘You know, we’ve got to stop putting misinformation out into the media and giving that to the public. It’s going to be to our detriment.’ They didn’t listen.”
As the riots erupted, Mosby said, she called Rawlings-Blake and was “livid.”
“I had told them this was going to happen, because they were exacerbating distrust,” Mosby said. She said she “screamed” at Rawlings-Blake: “You have single-handedly caused what’s happening in this city right now.”
Mosby said she hung up on the mayor.
Sheesh. These ladies are clearly on opposite sides of how this played out, but who’s really wrong here?
Did Mosby jump the gun? Furthermore if she did, should she and the Mayor really be airing out their dirty laundry???AP Photo/Alex Brandon/Andrew Harnik/Jose Luis Magana, File
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