Man critical in hospital after arrest by Baltimore police

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

US | Tue Apr 14, 2015 5:22am EDT
Man critical in hospital after arrest by Baltimore police


(Reuters) - A man was in critical condition in the hospital on Monday after being arrested by several Baltimore police officers in an incident that was at least partly captured on video, police officials said.

Local broadcaster WJZ-TV said family members of the man, who the footage it published showed was black, had identified him as 27-year-old Freddie Gray. He was in an induced coma with spinal injuries, it said.

Use of force by U.S. police, particularly against minorities, has come under increased scrutiny following police killings of black men in Ferguson, Missouri, New York City and North Charleston, South Carolina that have sparked nationwide protests. The Baltimore incident occurred on Sunday morning.

"A number of officers made an arrest of a man who fled from them," Baltimore Police Deputy Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez told a news conference on Monday.


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/14/us-usa-police-baltimore-idUSKBN0N50Q120150414?rpc=401

[avebury]

1. What on earth did they do to him the

left him with spinal injuries?

[ret5hd]

2. A hard knee to the back while laying on his stomach oughta do it.

[justiceischeap]

3. Local news video

http://www.wbaltv.com/news/man-suffers-serious-injuries-after-encounter-with-police/32353126

Friends and family identified the man as Freddie Gray, saying he's in a coma at Shock Trauma in critical condition on life support and with injuries to his spinal cord, including three cracked vertebrae.

It'll be interesting to see how they explain the cracked vertebrae.

[leftofcool]

5. Black and running?

That is how they will justify/explain.

[blackspade]

4. The thin blue syndicate strikes again.

These reports are becoming almost daily.

[RKP5637]

6. It's only going to get worse unless there is a national effort to stop it. Cops feel emboldened.

I noticed it getting worse after 9/11, cops becoming like stormtroopers, and then the gov. giving them military equipment. I don't see a national major outcry by the gov. to stop it, maybe it's there, but I don't see it across the land. Cops need to be held accountable and not shielded by other officers and the courts. Far too often police are like an old boy's club.

[Ms. Toad]

7. There is an organization working to stop the militarization of main street

http://fcnl.org/issues/police_militarization/

It was a key driver of http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c114:H.R.1232:" target="_blank">a bill with bipartisan support: http://fcnl.org/updates/main_street_shouldnt_look_like_a_war_zone/

The militarization came about because of the 1033 program.

It offers surplus military equipment to local police forces - and (even worse) requires them to use it within a year, so they are incentivized to put on displays like Ferguson - otherwise they have to return their toys.

[RKP5637]

11. Thanks for the info.!!! n/t

[RKP5637]

19. Thanks!!! n/t

[JonLP24]

18. VICE recently aired an excellent episode

Unfortanately is limited too HBO and my only critique was it was too short which is for all of them.

1033 was a big mention, started with Bush 1 or Reagan if not him. Militarization. Ferguson were rolling around in Blackwater tanks --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grizzly_APC I mean seriously? That thing is totally not needed but quick footage showed them pointing weapons at people, ordering journalists to move away from the protestors, throwing canisters of something without warning all captured on film. Insane.

[RKP5637]

20. It's quite serious. And there is a lot of "Group Think" IMO going on within enforcement agencies. nt

[JonLP24]

23. At the end of it

there was video of a woman screaming in fear just a shirt & pants laying face down on the kitchen floor with a cop over her with a kevler helmet, full vest, a rifle over her sent chills through my body. It is quite serious indeed. They don't have to do this but are treating crimes that are generally pretty harmless (even selling drugs) like they are in a war torn country. The unseen of it all is scary.

I'm glad some are bringing it to our attention.

[christx30]

27. That's why I'm against the War on Drugs.

It puts the cops in a military mindset. It's not about protecting the community. It's fighting a war. It's combat. They are not criminals set for arrest. They are now the enemy, and they are to be targeted for destruction.

[slumcamper]

8. CITIZENSHIP in this time demands something new.

We all have a responsibility to protect each others' rights (and lives) through the pervasive use of cellphone video documentation of police interactions with the public. Recent months have proven the efficacy of this relative to the long train of usurpation of our freedoms that have been perpetrated upon us in the name of "public safety" and "law enforcement."

We the people are not merely subjects of the modern surveillance state; we can and must be active participants in the use of surveillance for noble civic purposes. We can not and must not wait for the slow and feeble legislative process to "require" the use of police cameras (that can be turned on or off at will).

Instead, we must seize the moment and ensure objectivity by taking this matter into our own hands.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

14. So what ARE WE going to do about it?

Lets try a change of tactics by using social media to publish the actual phone numbers of the police departments involved in these tragic beatings and shootings and then phone them in mass to complain, no texting, no emails, just plain spoken words to let them know how many citizens are truly pissed off, tie up their damn phone lines with messages of protest, force them to change, let them know that we're not going away. Phone them over and over. Make them hear the message.

So what ARE WE going to do about it?

LETS TRY THAT !

[libdem4life]

21. Here's what works...now we know. Citizen's Cellphone Brigade...along with Neighborhood Watch. See

an officer, get out your cellphone. Video is the only thing that has worked. Otherwise they lie through their teeth, their superiors don't care or are complicit, and life, for some, goes on. In Baltimore, I was shocked to see a Black Mayor and a Black Police Chief...I think they had two police murder incidents.

A video is not a sure thing either, but it goes a long way to holding them accountable. I believe if the average American sees enough of these, particularly White America, they will get sick of it and be what we truly are as a nation. Right now, most have been in denial or ignorant...the last describes me, but now I'm not and it's time to speak out.

I like your ideas, too...just adding my own.

[JonLP24]

24. Over 60% of Baltimore is black

Most of the police chiefs are black and the mayor is rarely white. The last white mayor of Baltimore is running for President.

O'Malley still believes that 100,000 arrests in a city of 600,000 is a great idea (as of 2013 -- but interested what he thinks today)

BALTIMORE —Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Wednesday she will not combat crime by returning to the days of so-called mass arrests of minor offenses.

In an opinion-editorial piece published Wednesday in The Baltimore Sun, Gov. Martin O'Malley stepped up his campaign to get the city to go back to what he did when he was mayor: have a policing policy that led to more than 100,000 arrests per year -- many for minor offenses.

The mayor and governor are widely seen as friends, but they are not on the same page on this issue and the continuing debate, the mayor said, is causing many communities to worry.

"Homicides are going up for the second year in a row, and shootings are up year to date. Why? I believe it has to do with the fact that enforcement levels have fallen to a 13-year low," the governor wrote.

O'Malley called critics of his policy "ideologues on the left." . . .

"Honest minds can differ, but this honest mind is also fact-dependent, and the data show that more arrests didn't lead to a safer city," Rawlings-Blake countered Wednesday.

More: http://www.wbaltv.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/mayor-vows-not-to-return-to-days-of-mass-arrests-in-baltimore/22118078

O'Malley toughened up his "zero tolerance" policing while he was running for Governor

David Simon

To quote him: "In my city, Baltimore, we had a mayor, Martin O'Malley, who decided he was going to escalate the drug war. Zero tolerance was his mantra, and he put it out there: "Get everybody off the corners. Clear the corners." He was running for governor, so, for political reasons, he was basically trying to clear the street a year in advance of the election. We were filming The Wire in Baltimore at the time. And it got to the point that my African-American crew members and actors couldn't get back to their hotel without getting locked up, because they were driving while black. It was just presumed they were out there to cop drugs. So every now and then I'd have to go down and bail out my assistant director or one of my actors. Now, that was what was happening to people who were somewhat notable and had something to say to the cop. Can you imagine how many regular Baltimoreans went down to the city jail charged with nothing?" http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/mar/30/david-simon-americas-war-on-drugs

David Simon was a police beat reporter for 13 years before doing The Wire.

It certainly does go a long way when holding them accountability because it is difficult to do so depending on if you like the politician.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026444039#post74

[libdem4life]

25. And this is, supposedly, our most Progressive Democrat Candidate? He did look a bit slick but

I've only watched him one time. Good Lord...a control freak. Bernie is looking better and better.

[jwirr]

9. A man who fled from them. Come on police - wake up - anyone, especially anyone black would

flee from you. They have reasons. The police need to get rid of the violence and then we will no longer be afraid of you.

[jwirr]

10. So what was the excuse for this one. Did he spit on the sidewalk?

[2naSalit]

12. BWB

breathing while black.

[jwirr]

13. Oh, yeah that will do it. We need to stop this stuff.

[dixiegrrrrl]

15. Update: He is now deceased.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026533750

[Judi Lynn]

16. Jesus. Thank you for the new information. Unbelievable. n/t

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

17. At this rate, eventually half the police in America will be transferred to administrative duty

At least they won't be out knocking heads for kicks.

[libdem4life]

22. Just an FYI...The Baltimore Mayor and Police Chief are Black. n/t

[Politicalboi]

26. I'm guessing his head was wedged

And they pulled him to get him free.