Hello all,
As some of you are aware from my previous blog post (link below), there were an episode of extreme rioting and chaos in Baltimore. Whilst media and people on the outside had a hard time trying to understand just what had happened to cause them - it was later revealed that Freddy may have actually been beaten to death by the police (at the time) but today, this has changed.
Freddy's autopsy reports have been leaked to BaltimoreSun; the coroner reported the following:
"Freddie Gray suffered a single "high-energy injury" to his neck and spine — most likely caused when the police van in which he was riding suddenly decelerated, according to a copy of the autopsy report obtained by The Baltimore Sun.
The state medical examiner's office concluded that Gray's death could not be ruled an accident, and was instead a homicide, because officers failed to follow safety procedures "through acts of omission.
Though Gray was loaded into the van on his belly, the medical examiner surmised that he may have gotten to his feet and was thrown into the wall during an abrupt change in direction. He was not belted in, but his wrists and ankles were shackled, putting him "at risk for an unsupported fall during acceleration or deceleration of the van."
The reason why this piece of information was so vital in the trial against the six officers on accounts of homicide is because this proves that they did not beat or intentionally harm Freddy. So where does this leave protesters, rioters and miscreants?
It seems now, in light of this new piece of information that the riots were actually for nothing; they thought that he was killed because of his skin colour, they thought it was a racial-motivated homicide but this proves just the opposite. I said in my previous blog post that you needed to be sitting on the middle of the fence, especially if you don't live the lives that these people do. In light of this new information, there is really only one side that you can sit on.
I'm very sure, that there is going to be speculation and accusations that the driver of this vehicle did this on purpose to try and cause harm to him.
Finally, let's put this into perspective but let's take out some of the details; let's forget race, ethnicity, religion, criminality and what he had done at the time of his unfortunate death. Police have a duty of care to make sure that the person they are arresting is safe and secure. This has nothing to do with any of the labels I have mentioned above, this should be a training standard when it comes to making sure that the police officers are competent enough to deal with their job. It's a sad day when the slightest issue turns into a race war.
I think it's important for everyone to know that one's safety is vital no matter how much of a twat they might or might not be acting like and also to know that if you're rioting, the cause has some factual backing before doing it. Otherwise, you're literally no better than any other petty criminal.
In reflection of what I have written today; the police owed a manner of care to Freddy and that wasn't respected. I hope they are punished rightfully; they do not deserve murder charges but do deserve some form of punishment.
Previous blog post:
Baltimore riots
Sources & articles:
BalitmoreSun
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