Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby tells FOX News reporter during hostile exchange (at the 1 minute mark) that she comes from five generations of police officers in response to his statement that Baltimore Police officers are concerned she doesn’t have their backs:
The mother of Baltimore city state’s attorney Marilyn Mosby faced numerous disciplinary actions during her 20-year career as a Boston police officer, though the public wouldn’t know it based on the Freddie Gray case prosecutor’s public statements touting her family’s strong policing history.
The 35-year-old Mosby has used her family’s police ties to rebut critics who say she rushed to judgement and overcharged the six cops involved in Gray’s April 12 arrest. The 25-year-old Gray died a week later, touching off rioting in Baltimore and nationwide protests.
“Law enforcement is pretty much instilled within my being,” Mosby told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on May 1, the day she publicly announced charges against the officers. “I come from five generations of police officers,” she added, pointing out that her mother, father, grandfather and uncles have all served as cops.
But there’s more to the story than Mosby has let on.
Personnel records obtained by The Daily Caller show that Mosby’s mother, Linda Thompson, first violated the Boston police department’s substance abuse policy in 2006. After serving a 45-day rehab stint, Thompson violated the drug code again and voluntarily resigned on Feb. 1, 2008, rather than be fired.
The early retirement allowed Thompson, now 52, to draw a $1,810.69 monthly pension.
Thompson is not the only member of Mosby’s family to have had a rocky policing career. Mosby’s father was fired from the Boston police department in 1991 following accusations that he and his partner robbed drug dealers at gun point. Mosby’s uncle was fired from Boston PD in 2001 after testing positive for cocaine. Her grandfather was a well-respected Boston cop, but he ultimately and unsuccessfully sued the department for racial discrimination in the 1980s.
Personnel records obtained by The Daily Caller show that Mosby’s mother, Linda Thompson, first violated the Boston police department’s substance abuse policy in 2006. After serving a 45-day rehab stint, Thompson violated the drug code again and voluntarily resigned on Feb. 1, 2008, rather than be fired.
The early retirement allowed Thompson, now 52, to draw a $1,810.69 monthly pension.
Thompson is not the only member of Mosby’s family to have had a rocky policing career. Mosby’s father was fired from the Boston police department in 1991 following accusations that he and his partner robbed drug dealers at gun point. Mosby’s uncle was fired from Boston PD in 2001 after testing positive for cocaine. Her grandfather was a well-respected Boston cop, but he ultimately and unsuccessfully sued the department for racial discrimination in the 1980s.
Mosby has not publicly mentioned any of that during her speeches when running for Baltimore state’s attorney or since taking on the Gray case.
“A majority of police officers are risking their lives day-in and day-out,” Mosby told Hayes during her interview. “Recognizing that, because that’s what my family did, I also recognize that there are those individuals that usurp their authority who will…go past the public trust.”
“When they do that, you have to hold those individuals accountable,” Mosby added.
Mosby’s claims are disingenuous, say three retired Boston police officers interviewed by TheDC.
“Linda Thompson’s daughter is lecturing police officers about the right thing to do? You’ve got to be kidding me,” said one former cop who reached the highest levels of the Boston police department and has known Thompson since the beginning of her career.
The retired officer, who asked not to be named, said that Mosby’s message has been, “You can trust me, I come from a family of cops.”
Mosby has proved a polarizing figure so far in the Gray case. Elected to office last year, she became a national star to many after her public announcement of charges against the cops. But her many critics say her case is flimsy and that she charged the officers for political reasons.
The prosecution’s theory seems to be that the officers did not do enough to restrain Gray in the back of a police van after his April 12 arrest. Some of the six officers also failed to provide proper medical attention, Mosby has claimed.
Gray’s April 19 death was ruled a homicide due to “an act of omission.” Mosby charged the driver of Gray’s police van with second-degree depraved heart murder and manslaughter. Three other cops face manslaughter charges.
Mosby has also been heavily criticized for using activist rhetoric when publicly discussing the case. During her May 1 speech she said that she heard protesters’ battle-cry of “no justice, no peace.” Days before that speech — and before the medical examiner’s office had even determined Gray’s cause of death — she told a group of local clergy members that she was going to seek justice for Gray “by any and all means necessary.”
Via: Daily Caller
