For the fifth day, hundreds of protesters in Baltimore are taking to the streets to demand answers to why Freddie Gray died after his arrest by Baltimore police almost two weeks ago. Gray suffered a severed spinal cord after a hard takedown by several police officers.
The latest attempt to get the media and the public off the track is the odd theory advanced by the police union that Gray's spinal injury occurred when he was riding without a seat belt in the police van. Riiight. That runs counter to witnesses and video of the arrest, which indicate that Gray was dragged to the van, his legs and feet limp, by police (see photo). One witness said he saw a police officer thrust his knee on Gray's neck before he was lifted and dragged to the van screaming.
Baltimore's African-American mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake called the death "unacceptable," and is pushing for a thorough and swift investigation. We'd say the odds were good that it was a knee and not a unbelted ride that severed Freddie Gray's spinal cord.
