Here’s a summary of day two in the trial of police officer Edward Nero…
(Via Baltimore Sun)  Prosecutors spent much of the second day of Officer Edward Nero‘s trial trying to prove he was directly involved in Freddie Gray‘s detention and arrest — at times using Nero’s own statement to police investigators.
At one point Friday, Chief Deputy State’s Attorney Michael Schatzow read from a transcript of Nero’s statement.
“I then see Officer [Garrett] Miller chasing the other suspect, and Officer Miller at this time is now on foot,” Nero said, according to Schatzow. “He has his Taser in his hand. He’s saying, ‘Stop or I’m going to tase you.’
“He never tases him. I guess the suspect seen me. He then — he then stops. He looked like he kind of like slipped. I don’t know what he did, but either way he stopped.”

“Miller and I, we got him in custody. Miller took out his cuffs; he cuffs him.” (more…)

Nero’s defense attorney Marc Zayon said his client had a limited role. Rice was out of Nero’s view when he called out over the radio that he was involved in a pursuit, and Officer Garrett Miller was the one who caught and handcuffed Gray, Zayon said. Miller was in control, at one point asking Nero to retrieve his bike from a few blocks away.

(Via The Baltimore Sun)  Attorneys for Baltimore Police Officer Edward Nero sought to minimize his role in the arrest of Freddie Gray on the first day of his trial, saying he pursued the 25-year-old based on a supervisor’s calls for help and only touched him to try to find his inhaler.
Nero’s bench trial began Thursday in a downtown courtroom with prosecutors saying the officers who detained Gray on April 12, 2015 lacked legal justification, making his arrest an assault. Legal observers have said it is an unusual theory, and the case is expected to involve complex arguments about the authority of officers to stop citizens.
The trial, which could last five days, also involves allegations that Nero failed to care for Gray when he did not secure him with a seat belt in the back of the arrest van, where he ultimately suffered a fatal spine injury. (more…)

[Updated 5:50pm with Andy Savage response below]:
Officer Michael Slager is the South Carolina police officer charged with murder in the shooting death of Walter Scott.  Officer Slager’s trial is set to begin October 31st 2016, however the DOJ announced additional federal charges today.
The back story for today’s DOJ announcement frames the motive for the Obama Dept of Justice, Civil Rights Division, to file proactive charges today – the media will avoid highlighting the transparency.  However, long term CTH readers will understand it well. Remember, Hillary Clinton called Ryan Julison.

The State of South Carolina has put itself in a very difficult position with prosecution of the case against officer Slager.  Despite the media presentation of the event, the charge of Murder is a significant reach given the actual events which occurred in the entirety of the several minutes of the physical struggle with Walter Scott which were not recorded or discussed in the media. (more…)

Last year Matt Drudge warned of this activity, asserting that corporate and SJW interests were going to manipulate the news content feed on platformed social media in an effort to advance a false impression of support.  Looks like he was right as whistle-blowers now tell how Facebook is manipulating content.
(Via Daily Caller) Facebook staff manually inserted the “Black Lives Matter” topic into its trending news feed in order to artificially boost the movement’s popularity and in turn boost the Facebook brand, according to a former employee who curated news for the site.

“Facebook got a lot of pressure about not having a trending topic for Black Lives Matter,” the former curator told Gizmodo. “They realized it was a problem, and they boosted it in the ordering. They gave it preference over other topics.” (more…)

Update to THIS STORY – Nero is also anticipated to request a bench trial, without jury.

BALTIMORE SUN – Baltimore prosecutors have asked that the trial of Officer Edward Nero be pushed back one day after their offices were shut down for utility work over the weekend.
Nero is the second officer to go to trial in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray, and proceedings are slated to begin Tuesday with pre-trial motions. His trial is scheduled to begin Wednesday.
Prosecutors said in a motion filed Friday that they were told by BGE that their offices at 120 E. Baltimore St. would be shut down and without power from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Saturday. The work would also prevent the trial team from remotely accessing files, “effectively and unexpectedly halting final case preparations during the important last days before trial.” (read more)

Approximately three weeks before the arrest of Freddie Gray the state attorney,Marilyn Mosby, asked police to target an intersection in Baltimore (around the Gilmore Homes housing area) for  “enhanced” drug enforcement efforts. 

Officer Edward Nero and Officer Garrett E. Miller were conducting a bicycle patrol around Gilmore Homes when they made eye contact with Freddie Gray, who took off running. The officers pursued Gray and caught him.  Gray was restrained and handcuffed, and they found a “spring assisted” knife on his belt.  An arrest van was called to the scene, Gray was put in the van for transport to Central Booking.
According to a medical autopsy, Freddie Gray suffered an apparent severe spinal injury (self-inflicted) in the van and died after being transported to the hospital. 
(more…)

(Via Washington Examiner) Following a drop in students applying for housing, the University of Missouri will not be placing students in two dorms for the fall 2016 semester.
Mizzou will be closing the Respect and Excellence halls (ironic names, given the circumstances) in order to utilize dorm space “in the most efficient manner” to keep costs down.
In March, the university announced that it saw a sharp drop in admissions for the coming school year, and will have 1,500 fewer students. This will lead to a $32 million budget shortfall for the school, prompting the need to close the dorms in order to save money.
(more…)

The Virginia State Trooper has been identified as Chad Dermyer.
He was 37.
Dermyer was married and has two children and was originally from Jackson Michigan.
He is a former marine and was at the Greyhound terminal for specialized training on criminal interdiction.
State police have also identified the man who opened fire on Dermyer as James Brown III, 34, of Aurora, Ill.   Two civilians were also shot at the terminal.  Brown was shot dead by two other troopers.
Brown was traveling from Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina to Chicago.  Brown has a history of violence including gun violence and drug activity.  Brown was well known to the authorities in/around Aurora Illinois, and had previously served two years in prison.
(more…)

The MSM went into immediate obfuscation mode on this event hours ago.  Virginia State Troopers were conducting a training exercise at a Greyhound Bus Station when a shooter opened fire upon them.
The media is currently making it seem like a random shooting at a bus station – that is NOT the case.  This has all the earmarks of a pre-planned assassination attempt.  Six people shot, one trooper killed:

RICHMOND, Va. – A Virginia State trooper who was shot when a suspect opened fire at a Greyhound bus station in Richmond Thursday afternoon has died, multiple sources told WTVR CBS 6 News.
Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham said at least six people were shot when a suspect opened fire inside the bus station in the 2910 N. Boulevard at 2:45 p.m. (more…)

Brandon Meets The Moonbats

A gentleman named Brandom Tatum posted a video on Facebook describing his visit to a Donald Trump rally in Tucson Arizona.  As he describes it was an eye-opening event for him, as he discovers the protesters are not “protesters”, but rather hate-filled, violent and nasty antagonists trying provoke confrontation.

In short, he met/discovered the ideological left-wing of politics.

Mr. Tatum also describes himself as a police officer by profession who was shocked to discover the “Black Lives Matter” movement is actually filled with violent thugs and extremely hateful anti-American activists. Go figure.

(more…)