A Baltimore officer was acquitted of assault and other charges Monday in the arrest of Freddie Gray, dealing prosecutors a second straight blow in their attempt to hold police accountable for the black man’s death from injuries suffered in the back of a police van. The judge who decided Officer Edward Nero’s fate in the non-jury trial concluded Nero played little role in the arrest and wasn’t responsible for the failure by police to buckle Gray in. Nero, who is white, was the second of six officers charged in the racially combustible case to stand trial.
