Friday, May 01, 2015

This is the only example I found of leg laces. It is a wresting move.

I found nothing about such a restraint for police officers. The wrestler is this demonstration loop has an ambition to cause his opponent to be pinned with both shoulders on the mat while on his back.

The Police Union is welcome to defend it's members.

But, there is a man dead. He did nothing wrong to be arrested and mistreated. He went into police custody alive and innocent. He died while in their custody and there were six officers and a wall of silence. I strongly suggest the police union provide seminars to empowerment to their members to remove the Culture of Silence that is extremely obvious in this case.

One more time:

An innocent man who did nothing wrong died in police custody.

I haven't heard Mr. Gray's biography. His family can speak to whether he was a father and/or husband. Who is he? What were his aspirations?

This appeared in "The New Yorker." The title of the article is "Freddie Gray's Voice."  This picture accompanies the article.

April 21, 2015
By Amy Davidson

Two Sundays ago, (click here) just after eight-thirty in the morning, four Baltimore police officers were patrolling the streets around the Gilmor Homes housing project when, as the department’s deputy chief, Jerry Rodriguez, said at a press conference yesterday, they “made eye contact” with a twenty-five-year-old man named Freddie Gray. Gray ran, and after a brief chase on foot the officers caught him. They said they found a switchblade in his pocket. Carrying a spring-operated knife within Baltimore city limits can, in certain circumstances, be illegal, although the police commissioner said at the press conference, “Just running—there is no law against running."... 

I believe in acknowledging the intense review of the facts by the Baltimore Prosecutor's Office and again by the State of Maryland Attorney General's Office is to recognize the profound loss this man's life made upon the city and state. The loss of his life not only effected the officials in the city and state, but, also the nation. The title alone to this article is rather profound. Who indeed were the other Freddie Grays and why weren't they heard?

The community, while impoverished, understands and seek justice in their lives. They have witnessed men taken into custody to only achieve maiming or worse and not justice. The residents are stating there are other men who have died in the manner Mr. Freddie Gray died. 

Those that want to push back against the governments in this case do not stop to realize the actual nightmare Mr. Gray lived. 

"I can't breath." How many times now have black men stated those words. Then they die at the hand of THE SYSTEM of justice. Only it isn't just to them. 

Trayvon Martin was innocent and he is dead. The other end of the timeline is the innocent Freddie Gray and he is dead. This needs to be a nightmare to this country and resolve to end this hideous and aggrieved idea of law enforcement. 

It has been years now the American people have identified a militarized police force. That is illegal. It is like having the defense department turned loose on citizens. Just because they are in a police uniform doesn't mean they are legally conducting themselves within the borders of the country.

What does it take for the country to realize how completely inappropriate this type of policing has become. It has become a wall of silence whereby police are protected from causing the death of innocent people. There should be outrage by every American in this country. 

There should be outrage by every police officer that have conducted themselves morally and honestly while risking their lives to a line of work that is very dangerous. Americans realize the danger police face everyday they work. It is that status in our society that allows a wall of silence to exist. It is very dangerous to allow 'an image' to control a reaction to police that kill. When I realize how long and how far gone this society is to have this happen on a regular basis it is scarey. 

The country has to make this right. It has to realize the helplessness of the impoverished to make injustice known. The country has to do the work to change the face of the impoverished. It has to happen. There are many people dead in a country where freedom is suppose to be the right of every American. 

Unfortunately, "the image" of police is also politicized in the USA. It increases the drive to maintain the wall of silence. It has to stop. It is time for the country to make it right. This is primarily a minority issue, but, the same disease kills the homeless as well. This is going to end.

The City of Baltimore is not on trial.

There are six officers that allowed a man to die. There is exceptional proof those officers did not value human life, except perhaps their own. No one wants a police officer that doesn't value life. The lives of people are put in their hands everyday, they have to regard every human life with value even if they are suspects with an arrest warrant.

There are institutional problems, but, they are nation wide. The problem pervades policing in the USA. There is no city on trial, but, the practice of policing as it is applied in a militarized structure is on trial and it needs to end.

The State Attorney did not make political statements, she stated facts about herself as a reassurance she understood the problems. There was absolutely nothing out of line in her address to the people at a news conference.

The militarized standard of policing instilled during the Bush White House after September 11, 2001 removes Due Process from the citizen. It is an illegal culture that currently pervades the practice of policing. It places the citizen in opposition of police in a method that kills. There is nothing else to understand.

There is a common thread with every case starting with Trayvon.

The police do not carry the idea these black men are innocent until found guilty. They ASSUMED every one of them was guilty from their initial intervention. They don't have respect for the black men they are seeking to arrest and bring in for booking. 

They use overwhelming force with black men that were unarmed and nonviolent. 

Most of these same black men ran for their lives. When most of them ran it escalated the idea they were guilty. Why did they run? Did they see nothing but injustice if the police arrested them? Did they run for their lives fearing the ultimate sentence of death before their fingerprints were recorded at the police booking office? There is a lot wrong, beginning with a childhood of hopelessness in neighborhoods abandoned.

The police and/or vigilante acted as judge and jury and assigned these black men sentencing on the street. One was even a child engaged in play. This is simply astounding this happens in the USA.

Initial notes to announcement by State Attorney. She places "Due Process" high in esteem in the law. She identifies "No justice, no peace."

Probable cause, ....police made eye contact with Mr. Gray. Mr. Gray ran. Mr. Rice involved in foot persuit. Mr. Gray surrended. Mr. Gray handcuffed. Placed in prone position with arms handcuffed behind his back. "I cannot breath." Mr. Gray noted to have a knife and is lawful under Maryland law. Knife removed = Leg lace - Mr. Gray screaming. No crime committed by Mr. Gray. Mr. Gray was illegally arrested. Mr. Gray in wagon not restrained by seat belt. Removed Gray placed flex cuffs and leg cuffs on Mr. Gray. Mr. Gray still not secured in wagon. Mr. Gray from Backer Street severe neck injury incurred due to transport with no control of feet or legs. At no point did the police officers seek medical attention for Mr. Gray.

Officer Goodson

Dolphin Street and Drew Hill Ave. 

Officer Goodson and 

Mr. Gray requested help, he could not breath. He stated he needed a medic. Both officers assessed Mr. Gray and did not ask for additional 

1600 North Avenue was back up to arrest. Officer Goodson. Nero, Miller, Porter, Rice. Officer Alysia White. Nothing was done for Mr. Gray after assessing his condition. No officer responded to medical need of Mr. Gray.

Mr. Gray never received restraint as seat belt to transportation.

Medic finally called and determined Mr. Gray was severely injured. 

Maryland State Medical Examiner determined Mr. Gray's death is a homicide.

Goodson - 2nd degree murder, invol manslaughter, manslaughter of 2nd degree, manslaughter by auto due to repeated negligence of securing Mr. Gray in transport.

The list goes on and on for ever officer involved in the homicide.

She carries "the truth" in high esteem. 

The community has an indebtedness to the young woman who made the video of the illegal arrest of Mr. Freddie Gray. It compelled the community to identify with Mr. Gray and brought the outrage and demand for justice.

The video is contained in a news report. The media never gave up either. This movement needs to remain at the center of the country's concern for our minority citizens. There was a lot wrong in Mr. Gray's life, including the fact his neighborhood is deprived of the values of America's hope for all it's people. The movement must go forward. This is justice and it is direly needed for our minority members of our country. I am so grateful for everyone to continue this focus.

Death at the hands of police officers is completely abhorrent to what the majority of Americans believe about this country.

A full one third of the residents in Freddy Gray's neighborhood is in the state penitentiary.

From "The Washington Post" (Big Thank You and Thank you, "Morning Joe" for bringing it to the program.)

April 30, 2015
By Christopher Ingram

Inequality in Baltimore (click here) has been thrust into the national spotlight this week, with riots and civil unrest in that city following the funeral of Freddie Gray. This inequality has roots that stretch deep into the past. It's been exasperated by bad policy decisions in the present-day. And it makes itself felt in every aspect of life in the city, from the racial composition of neighborhoods to the number of empty houses standing in them.

For another illustration, let's look at a hypothetical case of two babies born on the same day this year in Baltimore. One is born in Roland Park, a wealthy neighborhood in the north of the city. The other is born just three miles away in Downtown/Seton Hill, one of the city's poorest neighborhoods....

The people in neighborhoods like this throughout the country find it impossible to break the reality of having a life defined by crime and punishment. The cost of the law enforcement and imprisonment in these neighborhoods justifies the reason this country has to do better.

The opposition to completely unnecessary deaths in this will not end. In remembering Eric Garner (click here) his one purpose for his life was to educate his children to get them out of the cycle of poverty and imprisonment. He is gone from his children's lives over a lousy cigarette he sold for $1.00. This is a very sick country and we have to bring this to the elections of 2016 and resolve to end the illness the USA suffers.

April 30, 2015
By Alexander Burns

The death of Eric Garner (click here) at the hands of the police on Staten Island has given rise to protests, marches and a federal civil rights inquiry, and brought national attention to the borough’s district attorney, Daniel M. Donovan Jr., when a grand jury declined to bring charges.
But in the special election in the 11th Congressional District in New York, where Mr. Donovan is the favorite to win on Tuesday, the Garner case has been reduced to a faint echo.
The election, to fill a vacant House seat representing Staten Island and part of Brooklyn, might have been expected to become part of the heightened debate over race and policing: a clash, at the ballot box, over the issues that have fueled civil unrest in parts of the country, most recently in Baltimore, where riots erupted after another black man died in police custody....