VIDEO: Extended Jail Hold of Baltimore Protesters a ‘Political Decision,’ Attorney Says

Civil rights attorney A. Dwight Pettit and University of Baltimore law professor Byron L. Warnken sat down with TheRealNews.com senior editor Paul Jay to discuss a Baltimore circuit judge’s ruling upholding the decision to hold protesters in the death of Freddie Gray without bail for up to 48 hours.

Judge Charles A. Peters said the extended holds were the product of a system “simply overwhelmed by the large number of arrests that occurred.”

But Pettit disagreed, saying that the 48-hour detainment is part of an overall political strategy to further restrict protest.

“I think definitely it was a political move to censor the heart of the protest,” Pettit said. “You put them in jail and hold them, then the more active leaders of the protest will be removed. I think that’s a political decision, and I think when you go to the arguments of their contended detention over the 24-hour requirement, then that becomes subjective. When it becomes subjective, it becomes political.”

–Posted by Jenna Berbeo