Discussion: Here Is What We Know About Freddie Gray's Death

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Discussion for article #235895

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This is horrifying! I am so glad that Mosby has decided to prosecute and has done so swiftly.

I cannot imagine what kind of utter disregard for human life the policemen had–presumably only because of the color of Gray’s skin. Why is this permitted to flourish as the disgusting ethos of our police? Not just in the South but in the big cities–NY, Baltimore? Why is there absolutely no testing of these policemen for their ideology?

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Actually, many police departments will use IQ tests to weed out potential cops- if your IQ is too high, they won’t hire you. Makes one wonder why.

And most police departments do not teach things like how to interact with civilians.

I once had to sit through a class (where I was not allowed to say anything) where a bunch of police officers “joked” about a local trans woman…and much of what they said reminded me of what a sociopath sounds like.

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I am not so sure about the others but I think Goodson has a real problem.

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[quote=“from article, post:1, topic:19832, full:true”]
They handcuffed him and placed him in a stress position […]

“Mr. Gray began to flail his legs and scream as Officer Miller placed Mr. Gray in a restraining technique known as a leg lace,” [/quote]

Chased him for making eye contact, then handcuffed him, then began torturing him. Before even putting him in the van.

Because. Reasons.

“Flex cuffs,” by the way, are zip ties. Nothing more than a torture device, especially if they are put on tight. Taking odds on how tight they were applied in this case.

I’ve been trying to hold back until enough information has been published. I’m finally beginning to think (some of) the cops need to be considered for the death penalty. There was intent to torture here, before negligent (at the least) homicide occurred.

Fuck the police.

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I still don’t know why they arrested him. Did this come out? Is it in the police report?All I know is, he was carrying a legal knife, but I haven’t heard the police say he threatened them with it. It seems like he was literally arrested for being young and black.

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Of course. But once his arrest and beating became public, the defamation began. After the fact, when the defense has had some time to concoct a good cover story, Gray has magically become a notorious thug who deserved to die.

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Brutal. Fucking animals. These “nickel rides” must end. Not just in Baltimore, but in every city. So glad to see Mosby throw the fucking book at them, but we need the DOJ to open a case about systematic use of nickel rides against people.

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Yeah, you got it. Young, black man who ran from the police. They figured he must be guilty of something, no reason for a black man to be afraid of police officers at all.

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I am hoping that the state’s attorney has carefully reviewed all of the evidence before making the announcement on bringing charges. If she didn’t 6 criminals just might go free and unpunished.

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and I will say it once again: I would love to see protesters echo NRA gun-nut rhetoric about watering the tree of liberty with the blood of patriots and tyrants as they march through white neighborhoods carrying long guns.

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Police are taught that if you are flailing about during and after arrest it’s because you are guilty. They can’t fathom that a person would be pissed off about being profiled and arrested when they have done nothing wrong.

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The David Simon interview put up yesterday summed up the entire situation. Either Salon or HuffPost.

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Freddie was arrested because, the Prosecutor said, he made eye contact with one of the bike officers. So eye contact is now a crime in Baltimore I guess. It could be Freddie ran because of fear of the police. That was all they needed to chase him, cuff and shackle him , “nickle ride” him, and thereby kill him. The police found the knife after they had him down. Freddie never took the knife out. Also the knife was not a switchblade and therefore legal.

So Freddie was arrested because of eye contact, nothing more.

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Take Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics and substitute “robot” and “human” with “officer” and “police department”, respectively:

  1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a
    human being to come to harm.

  2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where
    such orders would conflict with the First Law.

  3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection
    does not conflict with the First or Second Laws

Sure they’re taught how to interact with civilians. They are taught that they are the one in power, and power is always right – even when wrong. Therefore when authority or judgment is challenged or questioned (or even perceived to be) the dissenter must be taken down. It’s one of those reasons why when they stop a person for whatever suspicion, and then check them out to find that the person is completely clean, they let the person go – but can never apologize for their mistake: It would kill them inside to cede that little bit of power to a civilian by admitting they were wrong.

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This is a good start but the critical point will come with jury selection. If there is an all white jury, the officers will walk.
They need to also investigate why the Republican governor, Larry Hogan, signed an executive order to hold protesters for 48 hours insted of processing them as they come in. The governor suspended Habeas Corpus. They had 10 to 12 people in cells not meant to hold that many people.

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As the DA pointed out " he was arrested illegally". What has been said was Mr. Gray ran after he made “eye contact” with a police Lt. That, although running under those circumstances is not a crime, is what they arrested him for. That is what is meant by arresting him illegally. After arresting him a pocket knife was found on his person and as always these cases during the early phase of discussion when folks are likely to make up their mind a false statement about it being a “switchblade” was released by the police. It was a folding knife, not button actuated and was under 5 inches in blade length. It was legal. And what difference does it make? You have to have a reason to arrests before you make an arrest in America. You cannot arrest and then look for a reason to have done it. The knife was found after the arrest.

But he ended up dead. Many, myself included, think Freddie ran because he knew a bit about the Cops in Baltimore most of us don’t. He ran because he had 25 years of experience being a Black man in Baltimore and knew what that meant if a cop was anywhere around. He’d be guilty of being Black so he ran.

Freddie is dead but he did not die in vain. His death is going to turn that city upside down and in the end make it a better place.

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I sat through quite a number of course on policing, and they didn’t teach that. Most of them seemed like arrogant little pricks to begin with.

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6 cops ignore a dying man after taking away his liberty and freedom for no cause.
False imprisonment, torture, homicide. Nothing less.

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Right. The leaked reports from the other arrested person who said it sounded like Gray was attempting to harm himself when according to this report the poor soul was unresponsive at this point in the journey to the cop shop. That kind of shit leaked to the press and they gobbled it up in order to excuse the behavior of the cops and cast a bad light on Gray just as they did with Brown in Ferguson. A pattern they have perfected and gotten away with for decades if not longer.