A narrative quickly began to develop that Gray was somehow responsible for his own death. The original reports of Gray's death that determined that Gray died of a head wound from a bolt sticking out within the van. Then there were reports about another prisoner in the police van with Gray who disputed initial reports that he said Gray was “banging against the wall” and “intentionally trying to hurt himself”. The public were fed a story line that framed Gray’s injuries occurring during what’s called a “nickel ride” – reminiscent of the cheap and rocky rides at the local amusement park. The prisoner is handcuffed but not secured with a seatbelt – so they will bounce around inside the van as the police van drives through traffic, making turns and sudden stops.
There was a “leaked” autopsy report that Gray suffered from what the report described as a “high energy” injury while making a comparison to injuries suffered from shallow-water diving accidents. The report states: The type of fracture/dislocation documented in imaging studies on admission is a high energy injury most often caused by abrupt deceleration of a rotated head on a hyperflexed neck, such as seen in shallow water diving incidents.”
As daily protests began to take hold, Baltimore quickly became the latest flashpoint in the national resistance to police violence as uprisings quickly followed suit across the country. Protesters were routinely dismissed and characterized as “outside agitators” and a “lynch mob”. The scent of a police coverup began to carry a heavy stench as community tensions escalate while critical questions were left unanswered.
In the two months since the Baltimore Rebellion in Baltimore, there are reported plans to build a $30 million youth jail, divert nearly $12 million allocated for Baltimore City schools towards pensions, thousands are fighting turnoff notices for delinquent water bills, while FEMA rejected Baltimore’s request for disaster aid to cover the millions lost in property damage.
The pressing question should
be where will the next uprising take place and how will the people respond to
the next case of police violence. Over the last year or so, more and more
people are realizing this is a real human rights issue that has become a
national crisis. You have seen the many nationwide protests and acts of civil
disobedience, and fierce uprisings attracting international support over this
issue of police violence. For years now, black and brown communities all
across the nation recognized the police as an intruding force who have clearly
abused their power thus shattering this notion of public trust. But the
recent rash of escalating police violence not only shows the apparent lack of
accountability afforded to police officers but really provides some insight to
the extent of the political support police departments across the country
have.
Ferguson/Garner protests: The uprisings will continue until...
Where will the next Ferguson uprising take place
Eric Garner, was he resisting arrest or resisting harassment, Part II
