Three of the Baltimore officers arrested and charged with various crimes in the death of Freddie Gray are seen in a new video walking from the police van into the jail without handcuffs.
According to the Baltimore Sun, the three officers—Caesar R. Goodson Jr., William G. Porter and Edward M. Nero, who all surrendered May 1—were not restrained. Goodson, who is facing second-degree-murder charges, appears to stop and hug another officer when the three arrived at central booking.
The Sun notes that it is not common practice for suspects to enter central booking without being cuffed.
"It further illustrates why there is such a level of distrust with law enforcement here," Dayvon Love, an activist, told the Sun. "It shows the power of the Fraternal Order of Police and the police department. There is no other explanation that would make sense."
A Baltimore police spokeswoman explained that when a suspect turns himself in to the police, he poses little flight risk.
"While an individual turning himself in is not a regular occurrence, it is not unusual when an agreement is made between attorneys, the office of the state's attorney and the department for individuals to turn themselves in to a predetermined location where they will then be taken into custody," Lt. Sarah Connolly told the Sun.
Connolly confirmed that the men seen in the video were the three officers and added, "Members of the department had facilitated those officers who were turning themselves in to that location; at that point of time, they were taken into custody."
The video of the cops' arrest comes just days after attorneys for the total six officers charged in the Gray case have asked a judge to move the case out of Baltimore, saying that it will be impossible for them to receive a fair trial.
Read more at the Baltimore Sun.