The Gray Incident Brews in Baltimore

The spotlight is on the Baltimore City Police Department over the death of 25-year-old, Freddie Gray. During, what seemed to be a routine arrest, Gray somehow wound up with a broken neck by the time he got to the police station. He wound up being transferred to the University of Maryland's Shock Trauma center where he died a week later.

So, as this story quickly captures national media attention, the big question is: Who or what caused Gray's fatal injuries?

After several high-profile police shootings, it should come as no surprise that the cops are being scrutinized in the Baltimore incident. Adding pressure to the BCPD's defense, the six officers who were involved with Gray's arrest have been suspended. And Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, in my opinion, didn't really help the cops during her recent press conference in which she expressed "frustration" and "anger". And the names of the six cops have been released. I'm not sure if this was such a good idea either.

While I agree that this certainly doesn't look good for the cops to pull a guy out of the paddy wagon with a severed spinal cord, I think we should let the investigation run it's course before we start dishing out the blame. I have personally been told by Baltimore City cops that it's not uncommon for detainees to bash their own heads into car windows and/or the insides of the wagon. This is especially true of people who are whacked out on drugs. I mention this because Gray was no stranger to drugs. He had over 20 criminal court cases against him (5 active), mostly of which were drug related. I'm not saying that Gray broke his own neck, but it's just something to think about it.

On the other side of the equation, I have also been told firsthand about how the paddy wagon drivers sometime take "the bumpy route" while a suspect is locked in the back of the wagon. Could Gray have sustained his injures from getting thrown around on the ride back to the station? 

Incidentally, the initial autopsy concluded that there was no excessive force used on Gray. The family has since hired a well-known Baltimore lawyer, so I would expect the autopsy to be contested.

And maybe it's irrelevant, but a question that popped into my mind was: Why was Gray arrested in the first place? Well, apparently, he ran when he saw the police approaching. Here we go again. Why would you run from the police, especially if you didn't do anything illegal? I'm not saying that anyone deserves an ass whooping from running from the police, but haven't we all learned by now that it rarely turns out well for the Running Man?

Once the police caught up to Gray, they found a switchblade on him. I could be wrong, but I didn't think that you could be arrested for simply possessing a switchblade. So, is there any more to the story?

Complicating things even more, it was just announced that the Department of Justice is going to conduct a civil rights investigation. I guess it shouldn't be surprising since this case fits the narrative of the white cop killing the unarmed black man. By the way, did you know that roughly twice as many whites are killed by police? Of course, those incidents don't supply the required criteria to draw national media attention and protests. 

As protests have begun to surface, this one will likely get bigger in the upcoming days. How far will things escalate? If the cops are found not guilty of any wrongdoing, will that be the end of it? Stay tuned.....

kw