Freddie Gray dies a week after being injured during arrest

[Arctish]

I find it interesting that this thread is being derailed into yet another chorus of "it's not racism!!!"

Perhaps someone could point out what claims of racism you are arguing against? TVM

They are reacting to Toni mocking the Magical Negro tales they were telling about Gray hurling himself about while in handcuffs and leg shackles so he could get the cops in trouble.

 

[whichphilosophy]

Meet Anthony Batts, the Baltimore Police Comissioner and thus their ultimate boss.

And of course he reports to Stephanie "give space to those who wish to destroy" Rawlings-Blake.

How easy do you think it would be for a black cop to buck the system?

System where the buck ultimately stops with a black man and a black woman?
l

Three of the six policemen charged were black.

 

[dismal]

'

I find it interesting that this thread is being derailed into yet another chorus of "it's not racism!!!"

Perhaps someone could point out what claims of racism you are arguing against? TVM

I dunno maybe it's the people saying things about "black people's spines", magical negroes, and instituional racism that seem to be arguing this is about racism.

I could post the quotes or you could read the thread. Pay particular attention to the quotes that draw out the comment that the mayor is black, police chief is black, officers are black, etc as a response.

 

[bleubird]

This case seems more about the police culture than race.Protect your own at all cost.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

Meet Anthony Batts, the Baltimore Police Comissioner and thus their ultimate boss.

And of course he reports to Stephanie "give space to those who wish to destroy" Rawlings-Blake.

System where the buck ultimately stops with a black man and a black woman?
l

Three of the six policemen charged were black.

And drivers (deputy overseers) on the plantation were black.

What's your point?

 

[whichphilosophy]

Three of the six policemen charged were black.

And drivers (deputy overseers) on the plantation were black.

What's your point?

It's best to see the outcome of the inquiry for if 3 of the 6 are not black may possibly throw doubt on a simple white on black assault and homicide charge.
Such may suggest that racism was not the motive or not the only motive, depending on the circumstances surrounding the events.
Further is less likely that the police today will have the same subservient disposition of the drivers of yesterday year.

 

[ronburgundy]

And drivers (deputy overseers) on the plantation were black.

What's your point?

It's best to see the outcome of the inquiry for if 3 of the 6 are not black may possibly throw doubt on a simple white on black assault and homicide charge.
Such may suggest that racism was not the motive or not the only motive, depending on the circumstances surrounding the events.
Further is less likely that the police today will have the same subservient disposition of the drivers of yesterday year.

That is all very reasonable, thus sure to be ignored. After all, Athena clearly has a sound position resting her the sensible assumption that just like slave drivers, the current cops, the police chief, and the Mayor all directly answer to higher authorities that explicitly threaten them with extreme assault and death if they do not treat blacks with extremely cruelty.

 

[dismal]

It's best to see the outcome of the inquiry for if 3 of the 6 are not black may possibly throw doubt on a simple white on black assault and homicide charge.
Such may suggest that racism was not the motive or not the only motive, depending on the circumstances surrounding the events.
Further is less likely that the police today will have the same subservient disposition of the drivers of yesterday year.

That is all very reasonable, thus sure to be ignored. After all, Athena clearly has a sound position resting her the sensible assumption that just like slave drivers, the current cops, the police chief, and the Mayor all directly answer to higher authorities that explicitly threaten them with extreme assault and death if they do not treat blacks with extremely cruelty.

Obamaaa!!!!!!!

 

[RavenSky]

And drivers (deputy overseers) on the plantation were black.

What's your point?

It's best to see the outcome of the inquiry for if 3 of the 6 are not black may possibly throw doubt on a simple white on black assault and homicide charge.

One of the charges was "white on black assault"? Could you please provide a link to your source for that?

 

[Toni]

How much riding around in the back of trucks and vans without a seat belt have you done, anyway? Any of it with hand cuffs and leg restraints? I realize you can't do anything about the not being black part, so we'll make allowances.

Actually, it might surprise you--I've spent 5 months as a passenger in the back of a truck over generally exceedingly bad roads. (Extreme example: The truck was going as fast as it safely could over the terrain. I grabbed the side of the truck and climbed aboard--the driver knew I was going to, the road was limiting him to a speed that he didn't need to slow further.) The driver wasn't playing games with the gas & brake but the potholes were such that cars would have bottomed out and gotten stuck.

I'm not surprised at that experience. I am surprised am, sadly, not surprised that you are equating it with what happened in that van. FWIW, I have ridden in the back of a number of vans, busses, trucks, etc. over fields and some rough country roads. Not as a prisoner. The problem isn't the potholes or ruts but rather unexpected braking, even if the driver is taking care to do as little harm as possible to passengers who all had the use of their hands, feet, wits, etc. to brace themselves against the inevitable falls. VS the case of Freddie Gray, intentional braking, with the opposite kind of care taken.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

Where are the older Black men in Baltimore?

As I walked through my old streets, it was filled with nothing but black young women, children and teenage boys. It was as if an alien spaceship had come in the night and spirited all the older black men away.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/02/us/lord-of-the-flies-baltimore/index.html

I asked 28-year-old Zachary Lewis about the absence of older men. He stood by a makeshift memorial placed at the spot where Freddie Gray, the man whose death ignited the riots, was arrested.

"This is old here," he said, pointing to himself. "There ain't no more 'Old Heads' anymore, where you been? They got big numbers or they in pine boxes." In street syntax, that meant long prison sentences or death.

We hear about the absence of black men from families, but what happens when they disappear from an entire community? West Baltimore delivered the answer to that question this week.

 

[Trausti]

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Actually, it might surprise you--I've spent 5 months as a passenger in the back of a truck over generally exceedingly bad roads. (Extreme example: The truck was going as fast as it safely could over the terrain. I grabbed the side of the truck and climbed aboard--the driver knew I was going to, the road was limiting him to a speed that he didn't need to slow further.) The driver wasn't playing games with the gas & brake but the potholes were such that cars would have bottomed out and gotten stuck.

I'm not surprised at that experience. I am surprised am, sadly, not surprised that you are equating it with what happened in that van. FWIW, I have ridden in the back of a number of vans, busses, trucks, etc. over fields and some rough country roads. Not as a prisoner. The problem isn't the potholes or ruts but rather unexpected braking, even if the driver is taking care to do as little harm as possible to passengers who all had the use of their hands, feet, wits, etc. to brace themselves against the inevitable falls. VS the case of Freddie Gray, intentional braking, with the opposite kind of care taken.

Braking has no way to throw you against the back of the vehicle.

 

[Toni]

I'm not surprised at that experience. I am surprised am, sadly, not surprised that you are equating it with what happened in that van. FWIW, I have ridden in the back of a number of vans, busses, trucks, etc. over fields and some rough country roads. Not as a prisoner. The problem isn't the potholes or ruts but rather unexpected braking, even if the driver is taking care to do as little harm as possible to passengers who all had the use of their hands, feet, wits, etc. to brace themselves against the inevitable falls. VS the case of Freddie Gray, intentional braking, with the opposite kind of care taken.

Braking has no way to throw you against the back of the vehicle.

1. Ricochet
2. Being forcefully thrown.
3. Acceleration. Why stop suddenly if you don't intend to accelerate very rapidly?

Take your pick. I'm being generous here. But yes, I have fallen forcefully backwards in a vehicle but was able to brace myself. I wasn't handcuffed or in any kind of restraints.

Why is the use of seatbelts mandated?

 

[tupac chopra]

This article is saying there is a big coverup going on. Is it accurate?

If You’re Black in America, the Rules are Different

25 year old Freddie Gray didn’t kill himself thrashing around in the back of a police van. That’s pure hogwash. He was murdered by killer cops who were determined to shut him up and teach him a lesson. That’s what I think. And that’s why the official police report has not yet been released to the public. That’s why the police are denying that the van made a fourth stop at “a desolate intersection… surrounded by vacant lots”. That’s why the recordings between the driver of the van and headquarters haven’t been released. (“Whenever a police officer makes a stop he’s supposed to radio it in.”) That’s why the Police Commissioner has refused to answer questions about the video footage that was seized from grocery store owner Jung Hyun Hwang whose security camera was on when the police van made “a previously unknown stop” while Gray was still onboard. Check it out:

 

[Tigers!]

Would it make any different if we knew the colour of the police who were there when Freddie Gray died or did nothing to help him? White or black or other?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I'm not surprised at that experience. I am surprised am, sadly, not surprised that you are equating it with what happened in that van. FWIW, I have ridden in the back of a number of vans, busses, trucks, etc. over fields and some rough country roads. Not as a prisoner. The problem isn't the potholes or ruts but rather unexpected braking, even if the driver is taking care to do as little harm as possible to passengers who all had the use of their hands, feet, wits, etc. to brace themselves against the inevitable falls. VS the case of Freddie Gray, intentional braking, with the opposite kind of care taken.

Braking has no way to throw you against the back of the vehicle.

It does if you are weighted down, you'll pivot forward, then back... you know, like when stopping quickly in a car with your seatbelts on. You'll shift forward, but then back.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

And drivers (deputy overseers) on the plantation were black.

What's your point?

It's best to see the outcome of the inquiry for if 3 of the 6 are not black may possibly throw doubt on a simple white on black assault and homicide charge.
Such may suggest that racism was not the motive or not the only motive, depending on the circumstances surrounding the events.
Further is less likely that the police today will have the same subservient disposition of the drivers of yesterday year.

uh

No.

The pedantic, pedestrian and provincial thinking expressed by a hand full of posters on this board about anything not supportive of the status quo could very well kill all hope for humankind

 

[Derec]

This article is saying there is a big coverup going on. Is it accurate?

Consider the source.

 

[dismal]

Braking has no way to throw you against the back of the vehicle.

It does if you are weighted down, you'll pivot forward, then back... you know, like when stopping quickly in a car with your seatbelts on. You'll shift forward, but then back.

Seriously? You're an engineer and you're going to argue braking can throw someone against the back of a vehicle?

Back when I went to school they still taught "a body in motion tends to stay in motion". If Freddie is inside frictionless van and Freddie and van are both traveling forward at 30 mph when van brakes Freddie will still tend to be moving forward until acted on by front wall of van.