Majority of Democrats support charges against officers in Freddie Gray’s death

By ADAM B. LERNER
Democrats and independents overwhelmingly believe that bringing charges against the six police officers implicated in Freddie Gray’s death was the right idea. Republicans are split.

According to a new poll from Pew, 75 percent of Democrats and 71 percent of independents agree that the criminal charges were the “right decision” after what happened in Baltimore, while only 12 percent of Democrats and 14 percent of independents thought it was the wrong call.

Republicans are more divided on the issue. Forty-five percent said the charges were the “right decision,” while 33 percent thought they were wrong, according to the poll.

The difference between Democrats and Republicans of 30 percentage points far outweighed the gap between black and white respondents of 18 percentage points.

Seventy-six percent of Republican respondents answered that people “taking advantage to engage in criminal behavior” was responsible for a “great deal” of the violence and unrest in the city of Baltimore. Only 54 percent of Democrats agreed.

Likewise, only 30 percent of Republicans blamed “poverty” and “lack of opportunity in neighborhoods” for a “great deal” of the city’s problems following Gray’s death, compared to 48 percent of Democrats who thought the two factors did contribute significantly.

The findings were based on telephone interviews of 1,000 voting-age adults conducted from April 30-May 3, though additional questions about the charges only appeared after May 1.

 
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