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| 'I hear the screams every night': Freddie Gray's death haunts man who shot video | 'I hear the screams every night': Freddie Gray's death haunts man who shot video |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| Kevin Moore sits on a low stone wall at the edge of the handicapped ramp where Freddie Gray was apprehended, thrown to the ground and hogtied with a knee on his neck in Baltimore in April 2015. There is a small shrine to Gray, who died of injuries he sustained in police custody, that has been there for more than a year now. Liquor bottles, candles, a small mural of Gray’s name with wings, and some black balloons, which the wind was blowing away. | Kevin Moore sits on a low stone wall at the edge of the handicapped ramp where Freddie Gray was apprehended, thrown to the ground and hogtied with a knee on his neck in Baltimore in April 2015. There is a small shrine to Gray, who died of injuries he sustained in police custody, that has been there for more than a year now. Liquor bottles, candles, a small mural of Gray’s name with wings, and some black balloons, which the wind was blowing away. |
| Moore pulls the balloons back and tucks them lovingly into the corner. | Moore pulls the balloons back and tucks them lovingly into the corner. |
| “I never in my life woulda thought that I filmed the last few minutes of Freddie’s life, the last few minutes of him breathing, of his life,” said Moore, who took a cellphone video of Gray’s arrest and brought policing in Baltimore to the world’s attention. The video showed him being dragged along the ground into the police van, as he screams, seemingly in intense pain. | “I never in my life woulda thought that I filmed the last few minutes of Freddie’s life, the last few minutes of him breathing, of his life,” said Moore, who took a cellphone video of Gray’s arrest and brought policing in Baltimore to the world’s attention. The video showed him being dragged along the ground into the police van, as he screams, seemingly in intense pain. |
| “I hear it every night. Still. I hear the screams every night. ‘I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe, I need help, I need medical attention.’ This is the shit that play in my mind over and over again.” | “I hear it every night. Still. I hear the screams every night. ‘I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe, I need help, I need medical attention.’ This is the shit that play in my mind over and over again.” |
| There was a time when Moore thought his video might change something. In the year since Gray’s death he dedicated himself to filming police for a group called Copwatch, while continuing to work at a nearby deli and raise his children. | There was a time when Moore thought his video might change something. In the year since Gray’s death he dedicated himself to filming police for a group called Copwatch, while continuing to work at a nearby deli and raise his children. |
| Now, after a third officer was found not guilty on Monday of all charges for his role in Gray’s death and another round of viral videos brings attention to the way police treat African American men, Moore, like many in Baltimore, has all but lost faith in the legal process. | Now, after a third officer was found not guilty on Monday of all charges for his role in Gray’s death and another round of viral videos brings attention to the way police treat African American men, Moore, like many in Baltimore, has all but lost faith in the legal process. |
| “As bad as I want to cry right now I ain’t got no more tears left” said Moore. “I don’t have any more tears left.” | “As bad as I want to cry right now I ain’t got no more tears left” said Moore. “I don’t have any more tears left.” |
| Moore has lived his whole life in West Baltimore, one of the most violent neighborhoods in the country with some of the least opportunity for upward mobility. He and his fellow community members have been intimately familiar with police brutality since long before cellphones captured it on video, and they had been jaded to the prospect of change long before Gray’s death. | Moore has lived his whole life in West Baltimore, one of the most violent neighborhoods in the country with some of the least opportunity for upward mobility. He and his fellow community members have been intimately familiar with police brutality since long before cellphones captured it on video, and they had been jaded to the prospect of change long before Gray’s death. |
| But footage of the incident with Gray spurred weeks of unrest and international attention. And chief prosecutor Marilyn Mosby’s spirited announcement that she would charge six officers offered hope. | But footage of the incident with Gray spurred weeks of unrest and international attention. And chief prosecutor Marilyn Mosby’s spirited announcement that she would charge six officers offered hope. |
| “She come out with the charges and I’m like, ‘Yeah! We’re finally about to get some justice’,” Moore said. | “She come out with the charges and I’m like, ‘Yeah! We’re finally about to get some justice’,” Moore said. |
| Moore said prosecutors met with him several times after he made the video to investigators, “pumping me up to the point where I feel like we really got a chance to beat this and to win”. | Moore said prosecutors met with him several times after he made the video to investigators, “pumping me up to the point where I feel like we really got a chance to beat this and to win”. |
| Then William Porter’s trial ended in a hung jury. Officer Edward Nero, Officer Caesar Goodson, and now ranking officer Lt Brian Rice have all been acquitted of all the charges against them. | Then William Porter’s trial ended in a hung jury. Officer Edward Nero, Officer Caesar Goodson, and now ranking officer Lt Brian Rice have all been acquitted of all the charges against them. |
| Judge Barry Williams, who formerly investigated and prosecuted police misconduct for the Department of Justice, repeatedly asserted in his rulings that the state did not have the evidence to prove its case. | Judge Barry Williams, who formerly investigated and prosecuted police misconduct for the Department of Justice, repeatedly asserted in his rulings that the state did not have the evidence to prove its case. |
| Although the state has alleged that Gray was hurt in a rough ride in the back of the van, Moore thinks Gray was hurt in the arrest scene captured on the cell phone video. He questions why he was never called as a witness in the trials. He also believes there was a gulf between what the community expected and what Williams, and the law, required. | Although the state has alleged that Gray was hurt in a rough ride in the back of the van, Moore thinks Gray was hurt in the arrest scene captured on the cell phone video. He questions why he was never called as a witness in the trials. He also believes there was a gulf between what the community expected and what Williams, and the law, required. |
| “You had the people behind you, Marilyn Mosby,” Moore said, as if directly addressing the young African American prosecutor. “You had us, you fed us the shit that tasted so good… We gonna charge these guys with a whole lot of things that sounded good. | “You had the people behind you, Marilyn Mosby,” Moore said, as if directly addressing the young African American prosecutor. “You had us, you fed us the shit that tasted so good… We gonna charge these guys with a whole lot of things that sounded good. |
| “But us not knowing the law, this judge knows this shit inside and out, he does it for a living, he ate right through those bullshit charges. He ate right through them.” | “But us not knowing the law, this judge knows this shit inside and out, he does it for a living, he ate right through those bullshit charges. He ate right through them.” |
| Moore has now filmed more than 300 videos of police interactions with citizens in and around Gilmor Homes, where Gray was arrested. He says he endures taunting by the police. | Moore has now filmed more than 300 videos of police interactions with citizens in and around Gilmor Homes, where Gray was arrested. He says he endures taunting by the police. |
| “They pull they cameras out on they little cellphone and they record me,” he said. “I’m tired of this bullshit. I’ve got three kids that I got to leave here after I die, you think I want them fighting the same shit that I’m going through right now? I’m trying to leave this Earth knowing that I made a mark on this Earth and my father made a difference is what I want my kids to say.” | “They pull they cameras out on they little cellphone and they record me,” he said. “I’m tired of this bullshit. I’ve got three kids that I got to leave here after I die, you think I want them fighting the same shit that I’m going through right now? I’m trying to leave this Earth knowing that I made a mark on this Earth and my father made a difference is what I want my kids to say.” |
| He also worries about the safety of his children and wants to get out of Gilmor Homes, which has become the heart of a homicide crisis that escalated just after protests over Gray’s death. | He also worries about the safety of his children and wants to get out of Gilmor Homes, which has become the heart of a homicide crisis that escalated just after protests over Gray’s death. |
| In June, Donzell “Zelly” Canada, a close friend of Moore, was murdered on the day before Goodson’s acquittal. | In June, Donzell “Zelly” Canada, a close friend of Moore, was murdered on the day before Goodson’s acquittal. |
| “Honestly, I didn’t know how to feel because I’ve lost a lot of friends on these same streets, and I’m kind of getting numb – not numb, but it’s not a surprise,” Canada told the Baltimore Sun after Gray’s death last year. | “Honestly, I didn’t know how to feel because I’ve lost a lot of friends on these same streets, and I’m kind of getting numb – not numb, but it’s not a surprise,” Canada told the Baltimore Sun after Gray’s death last year. |
| Moore used similar words to describe the way he felt after Canada’s murder, which he said left him feeling like his entire community is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.. | Moore used similar words to describe the way he felt after Canada’s murder, which he said left him feeling like his entire community is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.. |
| “In the end, bro, what am I really fighting for? My kids are the only motivation I have right now,” said Moore. “Because when I come out and I see my people killing each other each and every day I’m like, ‘Damn I’m fighting for this shit?’” | “In the end, bro, what am I really fighting for? My kids are the only motivation I have right now,” said Moore. “Because when I come out and I see my people killing each other each and every day I’m like, ‘Damn I’m fighting for this shit?’” |