"no evidence of any use of excessive force" [View all]

[Faryn Balyncd]

So officers drag a man, heard screaming and obviously weakened on video, to the van, subsequently stop the van "to put more restraints on"" the man, who is subsequently found to be both unable to talk or breathe, and who subsequently undergoes surgery not only for vertebral fracture which had resulted in spinal injury, but for an injured larynx, and the Police Commissioner issues a statement that there is "no evidence of any use of excessive force at this point", describing the injury as "“a very tragic injury to his spinal cord", and for some reason finding no reason to mention the laryngeal injury, as if the laryngeal injury is not relevant to the issue of how his neck was broken.

Does anyone want to bet that the acts of "placing additional restraints" on the suspect in the stopped van is not on videotape?

Freddie Gray died Sunday, a week after Baltimore city police arrested him. A charging document obtained Monday by the Baltimore Sun said Gray “fled unprovoked upon noticing police presence.” . . . . .

Video of the arrest played by police at a news conference Monday did not show how Gray suffered his injury, which Deputy Police Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez described as “a very tragic injury to his spinal cord, which resulted in his death,” citing the preliminary results of an autopsy. . . “What we don’t know, and what we need to get to, is how that injury occurred,” Rodriguez said. He noted that “when Mr. Gray was put in that van, he could talk, he was upset, and when he was taken out of that van, he could not talk and he could not breathe.”

Rodriguez added that police had “no evidence” of any use of excessive force at this point, including from the preliminary results of the autopsy.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/04/20/baltimore-police-freddie-gray-arrested-without-force-or-incident-before-fatal-injury/

A man hospitalized following a videotaped encounter with Baltimore police remains in a medically-induced coma. According to the Baltimore Sun, family members say Freddie Gray underwent surgery on an injured back and larynx. The incident happened Sunday morning as officers tried to stop Gray in the 1600 block of North Avenue, but it is unclear how the 27-year-old became injured. Police are releasing a detailed timeline of their encounter with Gray, who they say took off running when they tried to stop him in an area with a history of drug dealing and violence. The timeline says Gray was arrested one minute later and placed in a transport wagon, but police say that van was stopped to put more restraints on Gray. Officers say video evidence shows he was conscious and speaking at the time. About 30 minutes after that, paramedics were called to the Western District station to take Gray to Shock Trauma.

http://weaa.org/post/news-wrap-suspect-injured-custody-coma-cummings-weighs-senate-bid

A man injured after being arrested by the Baltimore police died today, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Freddie Gray had to undergo a double surgery on three broken vertebrae and an injured voice box on Tuesday, after he was released by the police. He died today after days of remaining in a coma.

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/04/black-suspect-dies-after-baltimore-cops-break-his-spine-in-brutal-police-beating/

Here is footage up to Gray being placed in the van: