WMAL News is proud to nominate reporter Steve Burns’ on-street coverage of the trial of Baltimore Police Officer William Porter – the first of six officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray – for Outstanding Coverage of Non-breaking News in the 2016 Washington Dateline awards competition.
Eight months after the city of Baltimore burned in the wake of the death of small-time drug dealer Freddie Gray while in the custody of police, the first of six officers charged in the case, William Porter, was put on trial. As testimony and deliberations continued inside the courtroom, another form of anxious vigil took place outside, as residents, activists, courthouse lawyers, squads of riot gear-clad police officers, local politicians and even a member of Congress nervously awaited the verdict amid fears of more violence.
WMAL’s Steve Burns sent several days covering the trial from the streets, gauging the fear, anger and trepidation of members of the growing urban chorus, and gathering shrewd analysis from court observers who could measure the pulse of the proceedings inside court.
In the end, a mistrial was declared, perhaps muting the response from those gathered outside court. There was no real violence, but given the legal circumstances of the trial, Burns reports it may be difficult to for there to be any definitive justice in the case, either.
