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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Character Assassination Of Freddie Gray
On Wednesday, the Washington Post obtained a Baltimore Police Department document, which states that a prisoner in the vehicle transporting Freddie Gray heard Gray banging against the walls and intentionally trying to injure himself. The Post was given permission to publish the information, provided that the name of the witness remained anonymous, yet the newly-released details counter previous reports about the events leading up to Grays death. What is consistent, however, is police departments selective release of information that paints people injured or killed by police in a bad light and mainstream medias decision to buy into it.
Since Grays death, BPDs missteps in arresting him have been well-documented. In widely-publicized videos of the arrest, Gray yells in pain as three officers drag him to their van. They refused to give Gray, an asthmatic, an inhaler. They didnt put his seatbelt on. And sometime between his arrest and hospital admission, Grays voice box was crushed and his spinal cord severed.
But of all the documents compiled during the course of BPDs investigation, the one given to the Washington Post offers a different narrative: that Gray injured himself. That document minimizes officer responsibility for the 25-year-olds death, and its emblematic of a larger police strategy to deflect blame.
In some instances, officers make false claims that are eventually disproved. Before video of Officer Michael Slager shooting Walter Scott in the back surfaced, North Charleston police claimed Scott grabbed Slagers Taser and attempted to use it. The Cleveland Police Department said Tamir Rice was sitting at a table, was told multiple times to put his hands up, and reached for his gun before officers shot and killed him. Video later disproved the departments claims.
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http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/04/30/3653118/selective-leaks-character-assassination-freddie-gray/
FlatBaroque
(3,160 posts)if there was exculpatory evidence, the police would have released it within minutes, rather than have to deal with riots and unrest. Therefore it is only logical to conclude that the police are conducting themselves in the same fashion as in the Mike Brown affair. i.e., slowly release a false narrative with which they are relatively sure they can get away. The political leaders in this situation ought to gauge whether they can allow this repetitive pattern to continue, or if they should rather insist on the truth.
1handclapn
(105 posts)the cops are trained in mob psychology, and they created the elements and behaviors that create a mob. they kicked all the students off the busses at the mall hub n wouldn't let them leave to go home. then harassed them they charged any groups that gathered larger than 3. then the mayor said no one would be arrested for looting.. then the cops basically created.. see what we have to deal with everyday.?