Baltimore jury rejects cops’ story

Aaron Winston’s brother, right, speaks at Trayvon Martin rally on Feb. 26.

A Baltimore jury heard the cry for justice from family and community in the case of 24-year-old Aaron Winston. A Black dock worker, Winston was brutalized by police on Feb. 21 at Power Plant Live, a collection of bars, restaurants and other businesses in gentrified downtown Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

After severely injuring him, the cops charged Winston with multiple counts of assault, resisting, obstruction, disorderly conduct and failure to obey an order. On Aug. 17, the jury found him not guilty of all charges.

Winston’s family, with support from the People’s Power Assembly and Baltimore Southern Christian Leadership Council, has held many press conferences, pickets and leaflet distributions to build public support for the young worker, whose arm had been pulled out of its socket and broken in two places.

The jury decision came just a week after a scathing validation by the Department of Justice of the Black community’s decades-long complaints of racism and brutal repression at the hands of Baltimore cops.

A civil suit for damages, including payment of $90,000 in medical bills, is planned.

Workers World Baltimore bureau

Share
Published by
Workers World Baltimore bureau

Recent Posts

Beware of attempts to discredit Venezuela’s elections

The following letter was signed by more than 30 organizations, including Workers World Party, International…

July 30, 2024

Defend revolutionary Cuba!

Dozens of people attended an event, held at New Canaan Baptist Church in Brooklyn on…

July 29, 2024

Boston protest: ‘Netanyahu is not welcome anywhere!’

Boston Hundreds of pro-Palestine activists rallied on Jan. 20 at Parkman Bandstand on the Boston…

July 29, 2024

Marker commemorates racist Detroit police murders – 57 years after the fact

July 26 was the 57th anniversary of the murder of three Black teenagers by Detroit…

July 29, 2024

Solidarity is priority of Cuba’s health care system

By Rémy Herrera From a speech by Rémy Herrera of the National Center of Scientific…

July 29, 2024

Bread, circuses and assassination attempts in the U.S. – an essay

Minutes after the murder of George Floyd, Derek Chauvin said to a passerby that "he…

July 29, 2024