Did Freddie Gray Injure His Own Spine?
Did Freddie Gray die of an injury that he caused himself?
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that a prisoner who was being transported in the same van as Freddie Gray — whose death in police custody is at the center of Baltimore’s protests — said Gray “was intentionally trying to injure himself.’’ The prisoner said he could hear Gray “banging against the walls’’ on the opposite side of the van’s metal divider, according to the report. The unidentified prisoner’s comment was found in a court-sealed application for a search warrant, and the prisoner is currently in jail.
The report threatens to change a widely held narrative surrounding Gray’s death by raising the possibility that he died not because of police, but because of his own actions. That notion would be insulting to many protesters.
But it also raises the possibility that police are being unfairly maligned for Gray’s actions.
As in so many cases, your opinion may come down to what you already believed about police.
The Baltimore Sun reported last week that Gray was “not the first person to come out of a Baltimore police van with serious injuries.’’ The story cites multi-million dollar settlements given to prisoners left paralyzed after Baltimore Police van rides.
Police have said Gray couldn’t talk or breathe when he exited the van, and that they are unsure whether he could have been hurt during his arrest.
The Post reports that the officers stopped to check on Gray, and put him back in his seat after finding him on the floor. Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts has said that the officers breached protocol by not using restraints on Gray.
Police finished their investigation today and handed over their findings to the Baltimore state attorney’s office. It will determine whether or not to move forward with an indictment against the officers.
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