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April 30, 2015 9:30 am - NewsBehavingBadly.com

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It never fails. As soon as one of these excessive force stories breaks, there’s always a cop ready to leak something suggesting that the victim did it to themselves, just like Victor White. In that case, the coroner and police department said he managed to shoot himself with a magic gun while his hands were cuffed…


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D.B. Hirsch
D.B. Hirsch is a political activist, news junkie, and retired ad copy writer and spin doctor. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

43 responses to Police: Freddie Gray Severed His Own Spine

  1. mea_mark April 30th, 2015 at 9:32 am

    First step in cover-up, establish a narrative. He did it to himself? I call BS.

    • trees April 30th, 2015 at 10:37 am

      I wonder if they’ll bring in consultants to help them with their messaging? I know of a powerful Washington couple who are pretty good at this…..,

      • bpollen April 30th, 2015 at 3:52 pm

        The gay couple who hosted Ted Cruz? They are in Washington?

  2. William April 30th, 2015 at 9:56 am

    Tonight the police leaked a document suggesting that Freddie Gray tossed himself against the walls of a police van in order to sever his own spine.

    Uh…

    HELLO

    Freddie Gray was not only handcuffed and put in leg irons, but left without a seatbelt during his trip to the station.

    • trees April 30th, 2015 at 10:26 am

      I think what we’re likely to find out is that Freddie Gray had a preexisting medical condition and that he had had surgery on his back just a few days prior to his being taken into custody.

      • William April 30th, 2015 at 10:59 am

        Maybe, but not belting in a prisoner is a complete violation of the departments written policy on the matter. It’s also illegal, careless and negligent.

        You can speculate all you want. I’m leaning towards the departments history.

        $5.7 million is the amount the city paid to victims of brutality between 2011 and 2014. And as huge as that figure is, the more staggering number in the article is this one: “Over the past four years, more than 100 people have won court judgments or settlements related to allegations of brutality and civil-rights violations.”

        http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/04/the-brutality-of-police-culture-in-baltimore/391158/

        • trees April 30th, 2015 at 1:32 pm

          Settlement data is interesting, but meaningless. There are court settlements everyday, in every city, town, villlage, and borough. All a settlement verifies is that costly litigation was avoided, a local government will settle in an attempt to save money.

          It is possible that something happened along these lines, Gray was acting in a way that he intended to cause himself injury, he was unrestrained in the vehicle, in that he’s not strapped down. The driver of the vehicle is irritated with Gray and drives the vehicle in a way that cause Gray to be thrown violently against the sides of the van….

          Yes, in this scenario there is not only negligence, but also malice.

          We need to know what happened, I want to know what happened.

          If the cops acted improperly there need to be consequences, if they acted criminally, then charges need to be filed And the cops prosecuted

          • William May 1st, 2015 at 9:22 am

            You just keep holding on to that thought buttercup.

            http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-gray-rough-rides-20150423-story.html#page=2

          • trees May 1st, 2015 at 11:27 am

            It’s speculation, but, if Gray was unrestrained while in the van, and if the driver operated in a way to toss Gray back and forth, slamming on the brakes for example, then yes, this could be the cause.

            Was it racial?

            A lot of the cops, something like half, (if anyone has the percentage we can post it), are black. Gray has a record, he’s a known criminal figure in that neighborhood, so saying that racism is the driver, or the primary impetuous in Gray’s death is not accurate. Incompetence within the police administration, agency mismanagement and failure to govern with proper oversight are the conditions that have created this tragedy.

          • William May 1st, 2015 at 12:10 pm

            I don’t think that I ever said it was racial, but I do know this.
            Placing a handcuffed suspect in a steel walled moving vehicle without any restraint, IE seatbelt, is negligent, dangerous and illegal.
            Further.
            Grays criminal record is in no way relevant or admissible in this case.
            In fact.
            Arrests mean nothing. CONVICTIONS can be considered during sentencing only. (as a general rule).
            We’ll never know though.
            Because in this case the arrestee never made it to trial.

          • trees May 1st, 2015 at 12:16 pm

            I agree with you. It looks like the officers have been charged.

      • Carla Akins April 30th, 2015 at 11:51 am

        That’s actually already been discredited. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/freddie-gray-debunked-rumors-preexisting-injury

        • whatthe46 May 1st, 2015 at 7:35 pm

          he’s made that same statement on here 3 other times. i guess if he says it enough he might actually believe it and think we will too. the dummy.

    • fancypants April 30th, 2015 at 9:24 pm

      it doesn’t help when your injuries match hinge bolts located in the back of the van
      I guess the story is going to change saying Freddie had a running start ?

      • William May 1st, 2015 at 9:38 am

        There was a rash of lawsuits in the late 90’s as a result of prisoner transport issues. We used to “hogtie” very violent prisoners. Those were the ones that would kick the windows out of your cruiser, if unrestrained. I worked for a rural police department so we didn’t have transport vans. The arresting officer transported and booked his/her own prisoner.

        It was found that in some cases a supine person restrained and on his stomach could develop respiratory distress and die. It became policy that all prisoners should be belted in. Being in handcuffs (behind ones back) made for a difficult ride, depending on the persons height weight etc.. The pain could border on torture. Seats were developed to deal with this issue. Some of these seats even had an indentation that would facilitate the prisoners hands cuffed behind without the weight of his torso pressing back against arms and wrists. They were hard plastic and easily hosed off, as prisoners can do some pretty disgusting things while in custody.

        I’m not sure what exactly killed Freddie. What I do know is that securing a prisoner does help insulate a department from liability.
        Flipping your dashboard camera around and recording the prisoner is also a good idea.

        • fancypants May 1st, 2015 at 8:08 pm

          I found it very ironic that it was mandatory to belt in prisoners in Baltimore just days before this incident . I found it more interesting that there is yet to be a report stating what Freddie was arrested for ?
          long story short, this stinks of corruption from the start

          • William May 1st, 2015 at 11:15 pm

            Freddie ran after making eye contact with an officer(s), and yes that’s actually a valid reason to chase a subject. Freddie was then arrested for possession of an illegal knife which was found later to be legal, thus the charges of illegal imprisonment.

  3. Kim Serrahn April 30th, 2015 at 9:57 am

    I’m wondering what took them so long.

  4. whatthe46 April 30th, 2015 at 10:22 am

    that’s a damn shame.

  5. mea_mark April 30th, 2015 at 10:28 am

    On Freddie Gray, WaPo refuses to follow journalistic standards. It reports what anonymous people assert as truth http://t.co/O4N8BC4LoF— Dean Baker (@DeanBaker13) April 30, 2015

    • trees April 30th, 2015 at 10:34 am

      From the article,

      It is possible that the document accurately reflects what another prisoner heard and his comments in a sworn statement, but it is also possible that this is largely fabricated.

      I would like to know about the autopsy, and prior medical history.

      • tracey marie April 30th, 2015 at 2:51 pm

        try reading the article to start. Their was NO surgery

    • allison1050 April 30th, 2015 at 5:00 pm

      What WaPo has done and is doing became the standard many many years ago but it’s sad to have it confirmed many times over that they sunk to these low standards.

      • mea_mark April 30th, 2015 at 5:20 pm

        Jeff Bezo, owner of Amazon recently bought it. I was really hoping he was going to turn it around or at the very least not make it worse. Disappointment seems to be the order of the day.

        • allison1050 April 30th, 2015 at 5:41 pm

          Sad to say that I’m in full agreement.

  6. trees April 30th, 2015 at 10:29 am

    We need cameras. We need them in the police vehicles and we need cops with bodycams.

    • fahvel April 30th, 2015 at 11:07 am

      and in toilets and bedrooms and on all street corners and of course, in every f’n tree. Give it away fool!!!!!!!!!!!!

      • trees May 1st, 2015 at 11:29 am

        Isn’t that how it’s done in Europe?

  7. Suzanne McFly April 30th, 2015 at 10:55 am

    Amazing we can’t get an autopsy, but they can manage to leak some crazy, unfounded story concocted by a suspected criminal about how Freddie Gray hit himself so hard that he severed his spine? Please show me one person who finds this story plausible and I will show you a person who must be on crack.

    • trees April 30th, 2015 at 1:18 pm

      Severing a spine is no easy task, and having it happen accidentally during an arrest is not only unlikely, but absurd.

      So it begs the question, how?

      There was mention in the news of a preexisting condition and prior surgery just prior to the arrest, if true, this could be an explanation.

      I am reserving judgment until such time that we have factual evidence of what happened.

      • tracey marie April 30th, 2015 at 2:51 pm

        read the article, the debunked lie about surgery…try reading before posting

        • trees April 30th, 2015 at 2:57 pm

          It’s an article, I’m waiting for the autopsy report.

          If I’m not mistaken you believe Michael Brown was shot in the back while saying, “don’t shoot”, with his hands up, attempting to surrender.

          All of that was debunked.

          Yes?

          • allison1050 April 30th, 2015 at 4:58 pm

            trees, for my sake would you please try and read the article and then get back to this thread?

      • Roctuna April 30th, 2015 at 6:47 pm

        How? Watch the video. There’s two officers with their knees on his back holding him down. I’d say there’s high probability that’s how. His legs are already unresponsive when they drag him into the van.

        • trees May 1st, 2015 at 11:04 am

          Cops hold suspects down by kneeling on the back all the time, and the spine tht was severed is the cervical spine, that’s the neck. Kneeling on someone’s back doesn’t sever. A sharp or pointed object is required to cut. A spine is flexible, it would require far more than a knee to the back.

          • Roctuna May 1st, 2015 at 6:12 pm

            Look closer. At the same time there appeared to be two knees on his back, there were two more cops trying to pull him up by the shoulders. That’s got to put a lot of stress on the pressure points and the point of maximum curvature. The spinal cord is flexible but the vertebrae are not. I don’t know if this was the cause of his fatal injury but I still think it’s very likely. In the oil biz we have a device called a shear ram which severs the drill pipe using two rams pushing from opposite directions. I picture his vertebrae as the rams and his spinal cord as the drill pipe being sheared. Just my working hypothesis.

          • trees May 1st, 2015 at 7:21 pm

            Something happened, and my sincere hope is that we find out who, how, and what caused the death of Freddie Gray. If there was criminal behavior on the part of the cops, then I have no sympathy for them, they will deserve what they get. The police are entrusted to enforce the law, cops who break the law are to be dealt with as any other criminal is dealt with.I’m no fan of injustice.

  8. oldfart April 30th, 2015 at 11:18 am

    CYA in police departments ? who knew ?
    why cant these departments apply the same lengths in cleaning up their act ?

  9. Dwendt44 April 30th, 2015 at 4:54 pm

    Severing your own spine is virtually impossible.

    • allison1050 April 30th, 2015 at 5:16 pm

      Must have been one of those miracle thingys.

  10. labman57 April 30th, 2015 at 8:53 pm

    New motto of municipal law enforcement: “To protect and to serve … our own self-interests.”

  11. fancypants April 30th, 2015 at 9:14 pm

    oooops
    the autopsy report doesn’t support that

  12. Chinese Democracy May 1st, 2015 at 12:34 am

    He killed himself because he got picked up by the cops ? He wasn’t wanted for murder or anything. I call b/s