just as a citizen. but as a lawyer i can tell you these charges really are made, not fancifully, because i know how sincerely they intend to prosecute these officers, but because of the reasons that i ve laid out for you, it is likely the cops in the state case will be acquitted. why not do the federal, civil rights action right here in baltimore, maryland first? in other words, give the department of justice the first crack at the offending officers. i don t think anybody watching this program today believes that freddie gray was rightfully arrested. you know, he had no weapon on him. the fact that he was stoned is not a crime. the fact that he had been arrested 24 or 25 times before, that s not a crime either. he was illegally arrested.
i think that that can be pretty firmly established. so make that the civil rights case. make that the way you go after the officers that allegedly, wrongfully arrested this man and in whose custody certainly, and there is no debate, freddie gray died. if there is a federal prosecution on several rights charges first, then i think the community can rest assured that officers who go beyond the scope of their official duties are held accountable, as well they should be held accountable. but if there is the state case first, i really believe that there will be hell to pay when those cops are acquitted. baltimore now is hanging on the hope and the assumption that the arrested officers, that they
home ownership. as far as freddie gray, jr. s outrageous death, i m sorry, ladies and gentlemen, that was unforgivable. but despite yesterday s flamboyant arrest, as i said, there may not be the convictions this community craves. nobody can know in the freddie gray case exactly how that young man died or which cop killed him. that s why as i said earlier, a federal civil rights case should go first. freddie should not have been arrested on that circumstance, however shaky his life, he certainly should not have died in police custody. you know we love cops around here. we love cops. cops have the toughest job in this country. they are stuck with dealing with the worst among us. still, all parents have to feel
to the victim of course but you have to be fair to the accused. but geraldo reporter: baltimore is different from missouri. if ever there could be a case made to have a change of venue, this is it. for a couple of reasons. you didn t think reporter: you got it. you got it. yeah. so i ve got to believe that s going to be a big part. are all the people off the street for the most part or are there still arrests going on? reporter: they ve all been arrested of the they are detaining everyone. with this new revelation by this police officer tonight reporter: all right. we re all right. okay. we re cool. we re with you. all right. that s our guy. that s our guy. geraldo, let me ask you this. with this revelation reporter: this has been quite travels with geraldo, sean. geraldo, on a personal note i think you re 70 years old now. and you re running around like a 25-year-old brand-new reporter. you crack me up.
other, if you get my meaning. some of the statements the state s attorney made today will i think, force a change of venue from this emotionally charged community of baltimore someplace else. and it may even lay the ground for a special prosecutor to be appointed. in terms of the strength of the state s case against the six officers i surmise that the six were arrested and charged so broadly, so many of them white and black, because the state s attorney is hanging her hat on the fact that the cops might turn one against the other and get testimony against each other. if they don t, the state will have a very difficult time proving its case because who killed freddie gray. how was he killed. when did he get the fatal injuries inflicted. was it during the arrest. was it as he was being dragged from the scene of the initial