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Marilyn Mosby Urges Young People To Use Freddie Gray Case To Form A ‘Movement’

Chuck Ross Investigative Reporter
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Baltimore City state’s attorney Marilyn Mosby issued a call to action for young people, urging them to take advantage of the spotlight provided by the Freddie Gray case to form a “movement” to reform the criminal justice system.

“As young people, we need to utilize this moment and make it into a movement, to address some of the structural, socioeconomic, and systemic issues that plague our communities all across the country, not just in Baltimore,” Mosby told Cosmopolitan magazine in an interview published on Tuesday.

Mosby’s clarion call comes on the same day her case against the six Baltimore cops charged in the case suffered an apparent blow. The medical examiner who performed the autopsy on the 25-year-old Gray ruled that the injuries he sustained while in the back of a police van following his April 12 arrest met the legal and medical definition of an accident. While Gray’s April 19 death was ruled a homicide, the autopsy casts further doubt on the charges leveled against the cops. (RELATED: Autopsy: Freddie Gray Likely Got To His Own Feet Before Suffering Head Injury In Baltimore Police Van Ride)

The autopsy, which was leaked to The Baltimore Sun by unknown sources, also found that Gray had opiates and cannabis in his system when he was taken to the hospital following his arrest.

Mosby’s call for a new “movement,” despite the case against the officers being far from settled, highlights just how polarizing of a figure the 35-year-old rookie prosecutor has become.

Mosby became a national hero to some when she announced charges against the officers. “To the people of Baltimore and the demonstrators across America, I heard your call for ‘No justice, no peace,'” she said during a May 1 press conference to announce those charges.

But others have slammed Mosby, saying that her rhetoric showed she was biased against the cops, that she had overcharged them and that she was making extrajudicial statements that could taint the jury pool.

Mosby’s call for a movement is not the first time she’s used such fiery language.

“We will pursue justice by any and all means necessary,” Mosby told a group of community leaders days before announcing charges against the officers. That speech also came before the medical examiner had officially released Gray’s autopsy and cause of death. (RELATED: Marilyn Mosby Gave Fiery Speech About Freddie Gray Days Before Police Concluded Investigation)

Mosby came under fire Tuesday for more than just the content of her Cosmo interview. Vogue, another magazine geared towards women, published a profile on the ascending prosecutor. The article featured a snazzy photo spread of Mosby taken by famed celebrity photographer Annie Liebowitz.

“You really lose confidence when you look like you’re more interested in yourself than you are in the case,” Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren said during her show Tuesday, pointing out the irony of Mosby’s past claims that she did not want to try the Gray case in the media.

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