No, I didn't grow up in Baltimore, nor did I grow up in Maryland, but I might as well have. I grew up close enough to the Maryland line I could nearly throw a rock from one state to another. I will by no stretch of the imagination claim that I am as deeply affected as those who have literally called Baltimore home, but it still hits because it practically was in my back yard, plus I do have a lot of friends and family who either live in or very close to the city.
I think the absolute worst thing about all of these cases of "police brutality" and rioting is how quickly things seem to spiral out of control. Someone dies, and it seems like almost immediately people are rioting, destroying public and private property, robbing actual innocent people, stealing from businesses, setting places/things on fire... before all the facts are even in. I fail to see how exactly this is supposed to motivate anyone to hear what they're saying, but I digress. What really bothers me, is that it seems like every event that happens ends up somehow being racially motivated. Every time a black person is killed around police it's always racially motivated, nevermind the fact that you're 3-4 times more likely to be killed by police if you're white than if you're black. This whole Baltimore thing initially was being declared as being a racially motivated "murder" of Freddie Gray, when indeed three out of the six police officers that are being charged are black. Interestingly enough, when this came out it got quieter, but there are still some that I am seeing try to paint this as a racially motivated crime and I really don't understand it at all. Do you know how I see the world???
Not all the facts are in on the case. I've spent the majority of my day so far doing nothing but researching the Freddy Gray case, and the information that's available so far is not indicative of any guilt or innocence one way or another thus far. What is clear is that Freddy's criminal record has no, or should not have, any bearing on his treatment. What is clear is that he died in police custody. What is not clear, is whether or not the reports are accurate that are coming in so far, and by that what I mean is this:
Here, we have an article from The Guardian stating Freddie's head injury matches a bolt in the police van, and information that the police indeed did not have Freddie seat-belted in as required by policy. Apparently, the policy went into effect mere days before this incident took place. Prior to the incident in question, it was at the officer's discretion and not required. Sure, it's possible the officer(s) didn't see this change in policy because a lot of them "seem to be the same policy with cosmetic changes" or something and didn't pay attention, which is still no excuse mind you. It is also apparent that there was an undisclosed stop made by the transport van which initially was not reported.
Here, an article on the Washington Post claims the prisoner being transported in the van with Gray states that Gray was banging against the wall during the ride in what appeared to be an effort to injure himself and supposedly have a case against the police for excessive force.
And here, is an article, also by the Washington Post, stating that Freddie's "supposed" preexisting spinal injury did not exist. As you may know, there are reports going around that Freddie, within approximately 10 days prior to the incident, had a spinal surgery/injury stemming from a previous accident and was supposed to be resting, when he was outside and locked eye contact with police and then ran, causing a chase which lead to everything that happened. It is still a mystery as to how 80% of his spinal cord could have been severed in his arrest, or in the van without having a prior injury to aggravate the.. well injury that resulted in his death.
Right here, we have a NY Times article speaking of and naming the six officers charged in Freddie's death, and who got what charges. Note, the officer with the most serious charge, 2nd degree murder, is the van driver, who happens to be Black. It is also suspected Gray did call for medical attention but was ignored until much later. There's also mention of how it seems the early arrests and charges were made before all evidence was in, and seemed to be more politically motivated than anything else.
And lastly for now, an article from CBS giving a presumably factual account of the timeline that happened that day.
Now, in regards to the people saying he never had a civil suit for an accident, that it was only a civil suit for lead based paint, I beg to differ. A simple search at the Maryland Judiciary Case Search not only reveals a lengthy criminal record for Freddie Gray, which again shouldn't have any bearing on whether or not he "deserved to die", reveals two different civil suits. One indeed does involve lead paint, which was filed 03/14/2008, and one filed 10/16/2006 which appears to be an entirely different case all together.
On the latter link filed in 2006 if you notice, one of the defendants appears to be Taxi Management Inc, which, call me crazy, seems to relate to a taxi company, which would also seem to indicate possibly a motor vehicle related incident. You'll also notice in the Judiciary Case search that there was indeed a request presented with Peachtree Settlement Funding for him pursuing a lump sum payment, which appears to have been dismissed due to no-show and involving the settlement offered by a company who is also well known for the insuring of motor vehicles.
What disgusts me is the amount of hate going on regarding this case, the fact that people are committing acts of violence and destruction against innocent people when the facts aren't even completely in yet. None of these articles can 100% determine exactly the degree of responsibility on the officers involved. Again, I'm not defending the officers, merely stating that all the facts are not in yet, and I'm reserving judgement until that point in time. The disgusting amount of comments by Blacks, and even non-Blacks screaming that this is another Trevon (who was killed by a Hispanic man mind you, and also wasn't a police officer). The overall amount of hatred toward whites. Crying out that if Freddie was white this never would have happened (when again, you're 3-4 times more likely to be killed by police if you're white than Black). People commenting about "Black Power" and stating how it's not racist because it's different than yelling "White Power". That the white man is just trying to hold the black man down, blah blah slavery blah blah, without once acknowledging the fact that white people didn't just sail over to Africa and kidnap innocent black people, their own people sold them into slavery. Not acknowledging the fact that many Jews and other white Europeans were also slaves for a long period of time and seeming to act like it's only blacks that have been oppressed in history. Slavery was and is wrong, period. It should never have happened in history, period, to anyone. In this country however, it is also in the past. And what seems to be forgotten is that the actual number of white people who owned slaves was very small, and it's also forgotten that a huge number of us actually were against slavery and fought to make sure you were all treated like human beings and were given freedom, and even risked their lives to smuggle your ancestors out of the south and into the north were you were viewed as being free people. I'm being brief here because it's history for one, and for two this is already a novel as it is.
Oh and my favorite argument is the people who are crying out about how Freddie was "guilty before proven innocent" and saying about how it's not fair he wasn't treated as innocent until proven guilty... and yet these same people are screaming out to crucify these officers and not allowing them to also be innocent until proven guilty, which quite frankly, is hypocrisy.
Mind you once again, I am not defending the officers. It does seem to me like there is certainly at least some degree of negligence here, whether intentional or not, which, I don't think is an intentional act by all six officers, but who knows. It also seems that Freddie simply wasn't guilty of only making eye contact, but it does seem as though he did run from officers, which usually screams "Hey, I'm doing something illegal here and don't want you to catch me in the act." I believe the biggest factor here is going to be whether or not he did indeed have a prior injury and/or surgical procedure done that could have largely contributed to his untimely death. But none of this really explains this phenomena that seems to swirl around regarding how everything that involves a black victim is automatically a racist act if the perpetrator is of another race, and completely ignoring the fact that the overwhelming majority of crimes committed against blacks are indeed made by blacks. Why do they focus so intently on the miniscule number of crimes committed on blacks by non-blacks and ignore the fact that the majority of crimes committed against them are by "their own people." This is something I cannot wrap my head around.
Mind you, I speak of this as a white woman who was raped once by a black man. It never once crossed my mind that I was targeted by him simply because I was a young, naive white girl. Sure it's entirely possible that perhaps what he did to me was part of some racially motivated conquest or something, but it never really entered my mind. And I must say, every white person I've ever talked to doesn't really give a damn what color your skin is, they only care about your character. Twat waffles/assholes come in all shapes, sizes, colors, ethnicities, sexual orientations, religious backgrounds, etc. Racism/hatred/discrimination/ignorant human beings/decent human beings/accepting human beings/loving human beings/respectable human beings knows no color or has no other affiliation. They are all inclusive and exclusive at the same time.
I conclude this novel with one plea for every one of you out there:
Pull your heads out of your asses people. This crap isn't going to stop unless you make it stop. Yes you, every single one of you reading this right now. I don't care where you're from, what color you are, what God you worship or don't worship, who you chose to make love to... none of that. If you can't stop the stereotype that blacks are criminals or Mexicans are all illegals or all white people are racist and holding you back from achieving something better or that every cop is out to get you or whatever... none of this is going to go away. By rolling along and jumping on every piece of propaganda or whatever that's fed to you by the media, people like Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton, all you're doing is feeding into and keeping those issues going and thriving. You're continually dumping fuel on that fire and allowing for it to continue burning. Contrary to what you may think the only thing you're doing is adding to the regression of our society, not our progression toward a better and less divided society to live in. Is police use of excessive force an issue? Very well could be. But it's not just blacks that are singled out of this, you're not alone. It can and does happen to all of us, it just so happens to be there's no team of great white/Hispanic/Asian preachers/speakers crying out about injustice. Just because you don't hear about it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Just ask all the white people who were targeted and beaten "For Trevon", but you didn't hear about them really, did you? You are not alone, and believe it or not, the greater majority of us have nothing against you. The majority of us hate the white supremacists as much as you do, and have, could, and would stand beside you if you are indeed being mistreated or discriminated against... but that can be difficult if you're standing there shouting about "white devil" and how terrible of people we are. No one likes to be labeled. Just one person can make a difference. How you ask? For every one person that opens their hearts and minds and works to stop the division and hatred, that's one person closer to being a united society.
