An encounter on April 12th – a fatal encounter - between Freddie Gray and Baltimore City
Police officers left Gray comatose with devastating spinal injuries.
Initial reports indicate that 80 percent of his spinal cord
was severed leaving Gray with essentially a broken spinal vertebrae, and a
crushed voice box. Gray died from those injuries a week later on April 19th.
In the two months since Gray died from horrific spinal injuries occurring while
in police custody, questions remain unanswered; what exactly happened to
Freddy Gray and how did he die?
A narrative quickly
began to develop that Gray was somehow responsible for his own death. The original reports of Gray's death that determined that
Gray died of a head wound from a bolt sticking out within the van. Then there
were reports about another prisoner in the police van with Gray who disputed initial
reports that he said Gray was “banging against the wall” and “intentionally
trying to hurt himself”. The public were fed a story line that framed
Gray’s injuries occurring during what’s called a “nickel ride” – reminiscent of
the cheap and rocky rides at the local amusement park. The prisoner is
handcuffed but not secured with a seatbelt – so they will bounce around inside
the van as the police van drives through traffic, making turns and sudden stops.
There was a “leaked” autopsy report that Gray suffered from what the report described
as a “high energy” injury while making a comparison to injuries suffered from
shallow-water diving accidents. The report states: The type of
fracture/dislocation documented in imaging studies on admission is a high
energy injury most often caused by abrupt deceleration of a rotated head on a
hyperflexed neck, such as seen in shallow water diving incidents.”
The autopsy report also revealed toxicology results where cannaboids and
opiates were found while pointing out Gray’s apparent aggressive behavior as
“yelling, banging and causing the van to rock”. See this excerpt from the
autopsy report: “…
After the inner and
outer doors were closed, it is reported that Mr. Gray could be heard yelling
and banging, causing the van to rock. No injuries that would suggest the
use of a neck hold, Taser deployment or physical restraint, other than wrist
and ankle cuffs, were identified…”
As daily protests began
to take hold, Baltimore quickly became the latest flashpoint in the national
resistance to police violence as uprisings quickly followed suit across the
country. Protesters were routinely
dismissed and characterized as “outside agitators” and a “lynch mob”. The scent of a police coverup began to carry
a heavy stench as community tensions escalate while critical questions were left
unanswered.
The winds of resistance blew stronger and stronger in Baltimore where within hours of laying Gray to rest, a rebellious confrontation with the police
emerged. The world witnessed an open rebellion on the streets of America as
images splashed across the television screen of Baltimore students hurling
rocks, stones and metal pipes at a battalion of Baltimore police officers clad
in military and riot gear. These young people took matters into their own
hands apparently disgusted by their own daily experience of police harassment
and violence – they decided to fight back the only way they knew how. The
images were so foreign to the typical American – they were more reminiscent of
the battles in the Middle East of young Palestinians pummeling the Israeli
military. While the rebellious actions in Baltimore were immediately and widely
condemned as "thugs" by the president and yes, the mayor.
In the two months since
the Baltimore Rebellion in Baltimore, there are reported plans to build a $30
million youth jail, divert nearly $12 million allocated for Baltimore City
schools towards pensions, thousands are fighting turnoff notices for delinquent
water bills, while FEMA rejected Baltimore’s request for disaster aid to
cover the millions lost in property damage.
The pressing question should
be where will the next uprising take place and how will the people respond to
the next case of police violence. Over the last year or so, more and more
people are realizing this is a real human rights issue that has become a
national crisis. You have seen the many nationwide protests and acts of civil
disobedience, and fierce uprisings attracting international support over this
issue of police violence. For years now, black and brown communities all
across the nation recognized the police as an intruding force who have clearly
abused their power thus shattering this notion of public trust. But the
recent rash of escalating police violence not only shows the apparent lack of
accountability afforded to police officers but really provides some insight to
the extent of the political support police departments across the country
have.
