It’s interesting the the driver of the van was the one who was charged with second degree murder.
And BTW, this isn’t the first time Baltimore PD has given a suspect they didn’t like a “rough ride.” In fact, it seems to be quite the tradition:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/01/us/freddie-grays-injury-and-the-police-rough-ride.html
Curious how they will proceed with any testimony from the other prisoner in the van …why would they have strapped him into a seatbelt , but not Gray ?
I hope that the news from the prosecutors office finally makes things settle down with the demonstrations now
It will be interesting, @lje62 , because the truth is this: “We have a decades-long history of using excessive force against black men, and of violating their constitutional rights, and we know our fellow officers and the local DA will cover for us, and we’ve always gotten away with it, and we’re surprised that for some reason the world has changed, and suddenly we’re being caught and indicted for things that have always been OK.” They’d probably be best off to just plea, because for the life of me, I cannot think of a set of circumstances which would make Freddie Gray’s death non-criminal.
I posted this on another thread, but what makes this really fascinating and inexplicable to me is that at the time Freddie Gray was arrested, the shooting in South Carolina was all over the news. The lesson every cop in America should have learned that week is that civilians have cell phone cameras. So in Baltimore, at the scene of the arrest, the cops must have known they were surrounded by civilian cell phone cameras, right? And if their own rules and a shred of decency didn’t stop them from savagely beating Gray before they even hauled him into the van, wouldn’t they have known that those cameras were inevitably going to expose them and put the lie to their “peaceable kingdom” after-action report? Is brutality that ingrained in our police departments, that they can’t help themselves even if they have good reason to think they’ll be caught?
“And if their own rules and a shred of decency didn’t stop them from savagely beating Gray before they even hauled him into the van, wouldn’t they have known that those cameras were inevitably going to expose them and put the lie to their “peaceable kingdom” after-action report”
I admit, I haven’t been following every last report, but has there been evidence on camera that he was savagely beaten before he was put in the van? Those bicycle cops looked kind of wussy to me, but then again, it’s hard to look macho in bicycle shorts and a helmet. The only one charged with manslaughter is the driver, right? Has anyone been charged with beating him?
I think he was initially injured during the arrest. From the video you can see that he is dragging his leg. Based on the autopsy, someone had to have crushed his voicebox, you certainly cant do that yourself, shackled in the back of the van. I am sure someone will speak up, and they will probably cut some plea deals.
I did see the interview of the other suspect in the van. Its posted online.
busdriver, the link I posted in #267 contains details of the myriad ways Freddie Gray was brutalized even before he was literally thrown into the van, including being beaten with police batons, and being folded “like a crab” with his legs pulled backward.
I read a few days ago that the reason Freddie was not buckled up is the officer would have to reach across Freddie’s chest. I guess the procedure is not to buckle them up to avoid a confrontation or to violate the suspect’s “space”.
According to reporting by local Baltimore radio station, the second prisoner was in the van for only the five or so minutes of a much longer (20-30 minutes I think) trip. Maybe the ride was quiet for the last few minutes, and the banging he heard was Gray’s unconscious body moving around on the floor of the van.
The other day, the CNN website had a map of the route the police van took. Gray was loaded in at the first point, then it traveled several blocks for no explained reason, made several unexplained stops and turns, and then headed right back to the neighborhood spot where Gray was first loaded, picked up the second prisoner and went straight to the station where Gray was discovered to be unresponsive and an ambulance was finally called. The second prisoner was not in the van during the rough ride part of Gray’s trip.
When you read of the past settlements for paralyzing people through these “rough rides” you realize that this was deliberate, not a “fluke” and that such extrajudicial punishment is part of police culture there.
What happened to Gray is horrific, Orwellian in fact. He’s pursued and apprehended with no probable cause (not that would hold up in any of our neighborhoods anyway), roughed up (again, having committed no crime), deliberately and repeatedly placed unbuckled into a vehicle and subjected to time-honored police practice of short stops, hard turns, and rough driving meant at the very least to cause a shackled prisoner injury.
The callous disregard for human life and for Gray’s Constitutional rights is appalling. Absolutely criminal.
LasMa, the article you linked is not the prosecutors report, nor evidence. It looks like a story put together by a reporter, substantiated by people who may or may not have been reliable witnesses, and we all know how that can turn out. Some of it true, some of it not true. Think of all the people who didn’t come forward in Ferguson until well after the fact.
So much for, “Hands up, don’t shoot.” Before I believe anything, I’d like to ascertain that it is actually the truth. It sounds like the prosecutor is trying to do an honest and fair investigation, and if that’s the way it happened, she will find that out. Right now, she is saying that he was injured by being shackled, handcuffed and restrained inside the van. I have not read that they are accusing the officers of beating him.
Busdriver, what’s your theory on how his legs were rendered useless before he ever got on the van, as clearly shown on the video?
And the knife he was carrying was not a switchblade, contrary to police reports.
I was just going to post about that, @jazzymom . I guess I shouldn’t be shocked any more by the amount of lying that cops apparently do in their official reports. But I’ll say that some law enforcement officials seem to be awfully comfortable with perjury. The cops in S. Carolina filed falsified reports as well (not knowing that a video would come out in a day or two, of course).
In fact, the knife that Gray was carrying was perfectly legal, and it should have stopped right there. Instead, he was not breathing by the time he was take off the van.
This is a good explanation of the various charges. Several of the officers were charged because they failed to call for medical aid, as they are required to do. This particular State’s Attorney is having none of the argument that just because a particular cop wasn’t “there” when the van was being driven, that he/she is off the hook. Every single cop who came into contact with him was absolutely required to call for help. Every single cop who failed to do that contributed to his death, and the charges are appropriate.
[Freddie Gray case: Actions that led to charges](http://www.krtv.com/story/28956490/freddie-gray-case-actions-that-led-to-charges)
Very impressive performance by the city prosecutor Marilyn Mosby:
@TonyK #287 – You don’t say where you read that, but Commissioner Anthony Batts disagrees:
That wasn’t the only heinous breach of the rules:
It’s hard to point to anything these cops did right.
I am watching the news ( Fox ) and I am inspired by the people they are talking to tonight. It appears that things are moving in the right direction and there are some more positive protesters tonight…more unity and hope amongst the people out there.
“Busdriver, what’s your theory on how his legs were rendered useless before he ever got on the van, as clearly shown on the video”
I have no idea. One could just let their legs go limp, perhaps? But has the autopsy shown any injury to his legs? Any bruising, any broken bones? I think they should be able to piece this all together with the evidence. But it sure seems like they are in a big rush to declare what happened.
As far as being buckled in, I don’t know how correct the news report was, that requirement was in a recent memo, perhaps a week old. Which seems really odd to me that there are seatbelt laws, but people being detained don’t have to be buckled up.
This ruling essentially grants the police virtually unlimited power over the residents of high crime areas, such that one may be stopped, searched, questioned, and detained with or without cause at any time, simply because one lives in the neighborhood, and so of course, has no other choice than to be there. This ruling literally sets no limits to reasonable search and seizure for such individuals, making the 4th Amendment of the Constitution essentially null and void where they are concerned. History has shown that the granting of Police State powers eventually and inevitably results in a Police State. The Tea Party, and the likes of Ron and Rand will only be concerned about this vacating of the 4th Amendment when it applies to the likes of they themselves. But as far as New York’s Stop and Frisk? Well, they’re all criminals aren’t they? And Freddy Gray only has himself to blame. He did run after all…
I just saw the mugshots of the police being charged, Half of them are black…is this a racist incident or is it an abuse of power by cops who have an axe to grind with a repeat offender ? Was there a ringleader in the bunch ? Were some of them too fearful to speak up against something they knew was wrong ? Does it come down to a disconnect between police and the communities they serve ?
I believe the arresting officers were white, the bicycle cops shown in the video. As for the rest, there are theories of why someone would oppress a person who belongs to their own “group”. One theory is that it seems to place you in a different, (higher, better, stronger) group. Another is just that racism is awful in all directions, deeply ingrained, illogical, and complicated.