Ben Carson: Baltimore attorney ‘sitting on a powder keg’
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BaltimoreCNN
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Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said on Thursday he likely would have delivered a lesser charge to the six police officers involved in the death of Freddie Gray than the criminal charges imposed by Baltimore’s state attorney.
“I probably wouldn’t have charged them to that extent,” he said in response to a question from press during a roundtable discussion with pastors in Baltimore.
Though individual charges varied, some of the six officers were charged with second-degree murder, others with manslaughter. The state’s attorney, Marilyn Mosby, has faced criticism from the Baltimore police union and other critics who believe she was too quick to file criminal charges and was motivated by the protests that erupted in the wake of Gray’s death.
Carson said, however, it was impossible to offer an opinion without having seen the evidence in the case.
“But then again, I’m not a lawyer, I’m not a district attorney. Plus, none of us has seen the evidence that she has seen so, without seeing the evidence it’s impossible to really weigh in on whether she overcharged someone,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Carson had expressed support for Mosby’s decision.
“Somebody did something inappropriate and therefore she understood – I believe – that she was sitting on a powder keg and needed to do something to calm the situation down,” Carson said of Mosby’s move on CNN’s “New Day.”
The comments were characteristic of the measured approach Carson’s taken to the tragedy and subsequent unrest throughout Baltimore and the rest of the nation. He was the first 2016 contender to visit the city since protests there exploded into riots nearly two weeks ago, and spoke frankly with about three dozen largely African-American pastors and local community members about the issues confronting the city.
Carson said, though, that he doesn’t believe all six officers charged are in fact guilty of wrongdoing. During his roundtable discussion later Tuesday, however, Carson did say – “putting on my doctor’s hat” – that he believes the injury that contributed to Gray’s death was caused during his apprehension by police.
“An injury to the spine that can create the kind of damage that that did requires direct trauma to the spine. This is not something you get from flailing around,” he said.
“More than likely, in the process of apprehending him – he’s put on the ground in a prone position and somebody, you know, put a knee in a wrong position, and that can destabilize the spine. And then, when you’re rattling around with a destabilized spine, all kind of things can happen. I’m sure that was not the intent of whoever did it, but obviously it looks very suspicious to the community,” he said.
Carson’s called Baltimore home for more three decades, and served as director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University for 29 years.
Carson, who grew up poor in Detroit, also repeated his previous comments about Gray’s death and tensions between inner cities and the police.
He stressed that the solution to the frustration that he believes sparked the looting and violence in Baltimore is to “bring real hope back and do the kinds of things that actually allow people to be elevated out of dependent and dismal situations.”
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Ben Carson attends the National Action Network (NAN) national convention at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel on April 8, 2015, in New York City.
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Carson speaks during the 41st annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord International Hotel and Conference Center on March 8, 2014, in National Harbor, Maryland.
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Carson speaks to guests at the Iowa Freedom Summit on January 24, 2015, in Des Moines, Iowa.
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Carson is surrounded by supporters as he waits to be interviewed at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor, Maryland, outside Washington on February 26, 2015.
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Carson speaks at the South Carolina Tea Party Coalition convention on January 18, 2015, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. A variety of conservative presidential hopefuls spoke at the gathering on the second day of a three-day event.
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Carson delivers the keynote address at the Wake Up America gala event on September 5, 2014, in Scottsdale, Arizona.
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Carson speaks during the 41st annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord International Hotel and Conference Center on March 8, 2014, in National Harbor, Maryland.
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Carson speaks during the National Prayer Breakfast at the Washington Hilton on February 7, 2013, in Washington.
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Honoree and director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University, Carson poses with actor James Pickens Jr. at the Jackie Robinson Foundation Annual Awards Dinner on March 16, 2009, in New York City.
Photos: Ben Carson's career in politics
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Before his jump into conservative politics, Carson was known for his work as a neurosurgeon. Carson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then-President George W. Bush on June 19, 2008. At that time, he was the director of pediatric surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.
Photos: Ben Carson's career in politics
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In a story that garnered international attention, Carson was ready to separate a pair of 10-year-old Indian girls, Saba and Farah Shakeel, who are joined at the head in New Delhi, India. Here, he addresses a press conference at the Indraprashtra Apollo Hospital on October 4, 2005.
Photos: Ben Carson's career in politics
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Carson and a team of 20 specialists approved the procedure after studying the girls' brains; however, their parents were worried about their daughters' lives and did not give doctors permission to operate. The surgery did not happen.
Photos: Ben Carson's career in politics
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Carson observes the start of neurosurgery proceedings at the Raffles Hospital in Singapore on July 6, 2003. Carson and Dr. Keith Goh, left, performed a complex operation that was unsuccessful to separate 29-year-old twins Ladan And Laleh Bijani, who were joined at the head.