May 11, 2015: Baltimore Sun: “What is so striking about Ms. Mosby’s account is the idea that six different officers would all treat a human being as callously as they are accused of treating Freddie Gray. Those who now complain that they’re afraid to do their jobs are only lending credence to the notion that such reckless debasement is business as usual for the Baltimore City police. As damaging to police-community relations as Gray’s death has been, that would be worse.”
BALTIMORE — Thousands of people have been brought to the Baltimore city jail in recent years with injuries too severe for them to be admitted, newly released records show.
The records, obtained by The Baltimore Sun (http://tinyurl.com/pdbu29k) through a Maryland Public Information Act request, show that correctional officers at the Baltimore City Detention Center refused to admit nearly 2,600 detainees who were in police custody between June 2012 and April 2015.
The records do not indicate how the people were injured or whether they suffered their injuries while in custody. However, they do suggest that police officers either ignored or did not notice the injuries. Suspects are constitutionally guaranteed health care before they are booked into jail.
Baltimore police are under scrutiny for their treatment of detainees following the death of Freddie Gray last month. Gray died of a broken neck that prosecutors said he suffered while riding in a Baltimore police van, and six officers involved in Gray’s arrest are facing criminal charges, including one charged with second-degree murder. Gray’s death sparked rioting and widespread protests in the city and came amid national scrutiny of how police officers treat suspects, particularly black men.
On Friday, the Justice Department announced that it is conducting a civil-rights investigation of Baltimore police.
The records obtained by The Sun showed that 123 of the detainees who weren’t admitted to jail had visible head injuries, the third-most common ailment cited by jail officials. Others had broken bones, facial trauma and high blood pressure.
Police did not comment to The Sun, and department spokespeople did not immediately return messages left by The Associated Press on Sunday.
On Friday, May 1, 2015, State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced that her office was charging six Baltimore City Police Officers in the death of Freddie Gray. State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby stated: “To the people of Baltimore and the demonstrators across America: I heard your call for no justice, no peace. Your peace is sincerely needed as I work to deliver justice on behalf of this young man.”
Baltimore Police Officer Caesar Goodson was charged with “depraved heart” second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and other charges. Baltimore Police Officers William Porter, 25, Lt. Brian Rice, 41, and Sgt. Alicia White, 30, were each charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault and misconduct in office. Officers Edward Nero, 29, and Garrett Miller, 26, were charged with second-degree assault and misconduct in office. Lt. Rice and Officers Nero and Miller were also charged with false imprisonment for making what Ms. Mosby termed an illegal arrest of Mr. Gray.
The Baltimore Police Officers charged with these crimes surrendered to police and bail was set in amounts ranging from $250,000 to $350,000. They all posted bail and were released by Friday night.
Six Baltimore City Police Officers Arrested in the Death of Freddie Gray, top row from left, Caesar Goodson, Garrett Miller and Edward Nero, and bottom row from left, William Porter, Lt. Brian Rice and Sgt. Alicia White. (Source: Baltimore PD)
The full list of criminal charges against the Baltimore City Police Officers:
Responsible for Equality And Liberty defends the right of equal justice for all people, and rejects the use of authority as a tool of oppression to belittle and deny justice to people in the United States of America, and anywhere in the world.
As yet another week goes on after another brutal killing of an African-American during a police arrest, the American people are unifying to demonstrate that they will not take any more.
In a nation, which is widely viewed as divided, people of all ages, all races, and all identity groups are coming together in city after city, protesting for the call of justice.
As previously reported by Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.), the Baltimore Police Department set a tone of confrontation to reject the right of the public to protest the death of Freddie Gray, by the police calling the protesters a “lynch mob.” The police have taken three weeks to investigate the death of a shackled and handcuffed Mr. Gray thrown into the back of a police van without a seat belt. When the police arrived at the station, Mr. Gray had a broken spine and neck, and a crushed larynx.
Disturbingly today, a former police beat writer for the Baltimore Sun who attended Baltimore Police Department social activities, Peter Hermann, suddenly “leaked” a story to the Washington Post that the Baltimore Police is planning to claim that Mr. Gray broke his own neck and his own spine. Dr. David Samadi has questioned that wild rumor, published by the Washington Post, as something would not be backed by the medical evidence.
Nationwide Protests Over Police Abuse: Baltimore, NYC, Philade
Baltimore Protests for Justice and Another Night of CurfewPhiladelphia Protests Against InjusticeCincinnati Protest Against Injustice
New York City Protests Against InjusticeWashington DC Protests Against InjusticeDenver Protests Against InjusticeSeattle Protests Against Injustice
One reporter for the Guardian reported during Baltimore protests that the Baltimore Police caused a fire beside the Pratt Library, which was “not caused by Molotov cocktail, as publicly reported by the Baltimore Police. The teargas grenade landed on trash and its sparks set the fire. Watched it.” The reporter also stated that a drone was following the protesters.
Our fellow human beings deserve universal human rights and freedom from authoritarian or mob violence – in the United States and anywhere in the world.
Whether it is in Pakistan, Communist China, or the United States of America, all of our citizens deserve universal human rights of security, freedom, and dignity around the world. When we are responsible for equality and liberty, it must be for all nations and all people around the world.
The failure of the American justice community in the Baltimore death of Freddie Gray is being exploited by the terror group ISIS. According to the Daily Express, the terror group ISIS is trying to “recruit angry Baltimore rioters by promising them a ‘racially equal society’.” “It is not the first time the extremists have attempted to tempt disaffected black Americans to join them.”
ISIS Khilafah Police in Parts of Iraq Oppressing the Public (Source: AP)
Let’s not forget the real face of Khilafah”justice” by ISIS: whippings, murder, beheadings, shooting, burning to death anyone with a different faith, and anyone who dares to seek freedom of speech.
“Khilafah Justice” from ISIS – Murdering Blacks
Let’s not forget that blacks, women, gays and religious minorities are the number one target of ISIS’s Khilafah “justice” to murder, torture, and mutilate.
“Khilafah Justice” – ISIS’s Version of “Police Authority” – Shootings, Beheading, Whipping – they are “equal rights” they kill anyone who is not their faith, they torture anyone who does not submit to their bullyingMore Khilafah “Justice” by ISIS in Beheading Execution by Khilafah Religious Police “Hisbah”
It would be like Adolf Hitler claiming he was for black civil rights, while he was conducting the Holocaust of men, women, and children of every nationality, who murdered, sterilized, and tortured black human beings.
The failure of the American justice community in Baltimore and other major cities is a disgrace to the great United States of America.
But because we are democracy and because we respect democratic values, our shared American representative government gives all of us a voice to work together to change these problems and to see that extremists in law enforcement who abuse their authority are punished to the full extent of the law.
It is not good enough. It is not fast enough. It shouldn’t be an issue that we discuss in the first place. But a democracy gives ALL of us a place to work together to end injustices for anyone, anywhere. A choice to support another form of government which rejects democracy is not solution, it is simply making a bad situation worse.
Ask our friends in Darfur.
Sudan: Teenage girl whipped in the street. Her crime? Wearing pants.
To those extremists in law enforcement, I hope you understand that this is a reminder of the consequences of your obscene actions. Extremists’ contempt for for African-Americans, for the American people, and for the Constitution of the United States is used by the enemies of freedom. Extremist behavior helps embolden our enemies, and extremist behavior directly threatens our national homeland security.
To extremists in law enforcement, understand that YOU have become the number one recruiter for terrorist groups such as ISIS. This is the damage you do.
To the good men and women in law enforcement, this is why you must WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP ALREADY, and find your voice. You must denounce extremists in the ranks of law enforcement whose only accomplishment is to undermine trust for all in the justice community, and whose actions are a direct attack on the Constitution of the United States, which you swore an oath to defend and support.
The failure of the American justice community in the Baltimore death of Freddie Gray is being exploited by the terror group ISIS. According to the Express, the terror group ISIS is trying to “recruit angry Baltimore rioters by promising them a ‘racially equal society’.” “It is not the first time the extremists have attempted to tempt disaffected black Americans to join them.”
The failure of the American justice community in Baltimore and other major cities is a disgrace to the great United States of America.
But because we are democracy and because we respect democratic values, our shared American representative government gives all of us a voice to work together to change these problems and to see that extremists in law enforcement who abuse their authority are punished to the full extent of the law.
It is not good enough. It is not fast enough. It shouldn’t be an issue that we discuss in the first place. But a democracy gives ALL of us a place to work together to end injustices for anyone, anywhere. A choice to support another form of government which rejects democracy is not solution, it is simply making a bad situation worse.
Ask our friends in Darfur. Ask our friend in Pakistan. Does the images of violence against women and children by the Sudanese fascists or Taliban fascists look familiar?
To those extremists in law enforcement, I hope you understand that this is a reminder of the consequences of your obscene actions. Your contempt for for African-Americans, for the American people, and for the Constitution of the United States is used by the enemies of freedom. Your extremist behavior helps embolden our enemies, and your extremist behavior directly threatens our national homeland security.
To extremists in law enforcement, understand that YOU have become the number one recruiter for terrorist groups such as ISIS. This is the damage you do.
To the good men and women in law enforcement, this is why you must WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP ALREADY, and find your voice. You must denounce extremists in the ranks of law enforcement whose only accomplishment is to undermine trust for all in the justice community, and whose actions are a direct attack on the Constitution of the United States, which you swore an oath to defend and support.
A shocking and disturbing turn of events in the public protests of the death of Freddie Gray, who died while in the custody of the Baltimore Police. It was discovered today that Baltimore Police Union issued a memo describing the protests of African-American Freddie Gray as a “lynch mob,” and stated that the Baltimore Police Union was “not concerned with the community’s confidence in the investigation.”
Protesters in Baltimore, Maryland have been protesting the death of Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old man who died Sunday, April 19, 2015. after sustaining a spinal cord injury while in police custody a week earlier. Human rights leader Jesse Jackson has encouraged peaceful protests of the death of Freddie Gray.
Baltimore, MD: Freddie Gray Died of Spinal Injuries after Arrest by Baltimore Police (Source: Google)
News reports have described that Freddie Gray was hospitalized in critical condition. The Baltimore Sun reported on witness Kevin Moore, who was present when Mr. Gray was being arrested, stating: “Moore said he found his friend handcuffed, ‘screaming for his life,’ and planted face down on the ground with one Baltimore bicycle police officer’s knee on his neck and the other bicycle officer bending his legs backward so that Gray’s heels were in his back. ‘They had him folded up like he was a crab or a piece of origami. He was all bent up,’ Moore said.”
The Atlantic reports that “The police say Gray didn’t resist arrest and that officers didn’t use force, which seems to be mostly corroborated by video shot by bystanders. Gray seems to shout in pain, and his leg seems injured as officers drag him to a police van. (Someone off camera shouts, ‘His leg broke and y’all dragging him like that!’) Gray also had asthma and requested his inhaler, but didn’t get it. Yet it’s not the leg or the asthma that killed him. Instead, it was a grave injury to his spinal cord. Gray’s family said he was treated for three fractured vertebrae and a crushed voice box, the sorts of injuries that doctors say are usually caused by serious car accidents. ”
But when the public has protested the Baltimore Police’s handling of this arrest and Mr. Gray’s subsequent death, the Baltimore Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Union Lodge 3 issued a statement privately that read, in part, that protesters are equivalent to a “lynch mob,” and that “we are not concerned with the community’s confidence in the investigation.”
Baltimore Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge 3 Issues Statement Equating Protests Against Death During Police Arrest with “Lynchings” (Source: Twitter)
R.E.A.L. has provided a response to such views by the Baltimore FOP Union Lodge 3, which reject the universal human rights which we have agreed to as a nation. As we are concerned with the universal human rights of our brothers and sisters in humanity around the world, certainly we are also responsible for defending the universal human rights of Americans
Below is R.E.A.L.’s letter on April 23 to the Baltimore FOP Union Lodge 3, regarding the FOP’s comments, which we also sent to the Maryland State legislators that the Baltimore FOP union is seeking to influence via lobbying efforts. Brooke E. Lierman, Maryland Delegate, District 46 (Baltimore City) replied: “Thanks for the cc. I was at the protest today in Baltimore and it was very orderly and went well I thought. I am also concerned about some of the comments – I appreciate your email.”
R.E.A.L.’s April 23 Letter to Baltimore Police Union
Large protest groups have gathered in Baltimore, MD to protest this police action, which has resulted in the death of Freddie Gray. R.E.A.L. supports the peaceful protest of our fellow citizens in America and any part of the world calling for such basic dignity in treatment as human beings, and support for our shared universal human rights.
Baltimore Protests – April 23, 2015 – Protests Against Freddie Gray’s Death in Police Custody (Source: CNN)Freddie Gray Protests in Baltimore (Source: AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
R.E.A.L. supports the peaceful protests of all people regarding injustice and oppression, and calls for consistent universal human rights for all people around the world.
A keystone that holds together the heterogeneous segments of American public is our shared respect for law, equality, and justice. Our culture is not based on sharing one ethnic background, one race, one historical “culture,” or one religion. We are a diverse nation and an example for such diversity for the world. In large part, our commitment to equality and liberty, our commitment to equal law and order is “America’s culture.”
Over the past year, we have seen wave after wave of abuse by police authority in this nation. We have seen hundreds of thousands marching and protesting in Washington D.C. in front of the U.S. Department of Justice to call for action. We have seen protests across the nation condemning police abuse against our public and our Constitution. That action has been halting and limited to a single report on Ferguson. The action has been very “deliberate,” while African-Americans and other Americans continue to be murdered by criminals wearing badges, who do not represent the authority granted by the American people. While the current administration sent the Vice President at the funeral of two NYC police officers, the visibility and concern on police abuses is at another level entirely.
The American public may differ on many political issues and on many different solutions to problems in our society. But one thing will bring the American public together: lawlessness.
The American public will NOT tolerate our people being killed in the streets. Not by criminals thugs. And not by people carrying the badge of police authority that we give them.
In the past several DAYS, this situation of lawlessness has continued to escalate, to add to the existing incomprehensible state of lawlessness by our police authorities in Ferguson, MO, New York City, NY, Cleveland, OH, and other cities. We now have North Charleston, South Carolina, and Baltimore, MD to add to this lawlessness.
A man killed in Ferguson, MO for being in the street. A man strangled to death in New York City for selling cigarettes. A child shot to death in Cleveland for having a toy. A death of a Baltimore man who suffered a spinal injury while being shackled. Now we see an unarmed man gunned down in the back in North Charleston, South Carolina, by a criminal with a badge and a gun our public gave him. This horrific wave of criminal police abuse has been notorious for its racist targeting of African-Americans. But this criminal police abuse also targets the Constitution of the United States. It is a threat, not just to African-American people, but to all Americans, and it must be the concern of all Americans. You would think this lawless and criminal behavior by individuals wearing a badge was being done in some totalitarian nation, rather than the United States of America.
In Washington DC, the U.S. Secret Service has had an ongoing state of lawlessness and chaos for many months, which has now led to Washington DC police to have to arrest and imprison a Secret Service agent for threatening his girlfriend with a gun. It appears almost every week now the U.S. Secret Service has a scandal related to its law enforcement role.
But this Sunday, as we saw the Washington Post reporting about thousands of police abuses, we have seen our federal law enforcement attack our Constitutional rights. On the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attack on Oklahoma City federal building, a Deputy U.S. Marshal in South Gate, CA, with an assault weapon is running down the street to try to tackle and wrest the mobile phone from an unarmed woman, Beatriz Paez, who dared to take a photo of public police activity. The anonymous bully attacking our Constitutional rights didn’t know that someone else was also watching with their cell phone and took a video of his entire attack on this woman. That video was posted on YouTube and has had over 1.2 million viewers. On the 10th anniversary of YouTube, it is now documenting public acts by a federal law enforcement officer to attack our Constitution. Every patriotic American should speak out on this issue.
In fact, I did. I am retired from the U.S. Department of Justice, having served with the Federal Bureau of Investigation for six years. To me, the attack on our Constitutional rights by a member of the DOJ USMS is not only a disgrace to our nation, but it is also a personal and professional offense against the efforts by the many thousands of loyal hard-working and patriotic members of federal law enforcement to protect our Constitution and this nation.
“Anonymous” USMS Deputy Marshal Chases and Attacks Woman Beatriz Paez in California for Using her Mobile Phone in Public (Source: YouTube)
So I also called the USMS on this – three days after this happened. Three days, after all this publicity, surely the USMS had plenty of time to “investigate” this and take some action. I was first palmed off on a USMS PR person basically ignoring me (mixed with some sarcasm) and telling me to send an email to a generic USMS email address. Then I called the USMS Central District of California, where I finally spoke to someone who seemed to understand what I was talking about, but who told me all action was handled by the USMS Office of Professional Responsibility.
The USMS Office of Professional Responsibility has decided not to have its national headquarters in our nation’s capital Washington, DC, but in Alexandria, VA. In a twist of bitter irony, it has located itself on a street named after the notorious traitor Jefferson Davis, who led the treasonous Confederate States of America and sought the destruction of our United States of America’s union.
By the time I had called the USMS Office of Professional Responsibility led by USMS Assistant Director Carl Caulk on this matter, the YouTube video of the “anonymous” USMS Deputy Marshal attacking our Constitutional rights had reached 600,000 viewers. When I asked about the OPR’s plans to act on this incident in South Gate, CA, the USMS OPR person answering the phone pretended he didn’t know what I was talking about. When I “reminded” this person and ended the lame attempt at obfuscation, I was told that the USMS OPR was investigating this, and had seen the YouTube video. I reminded the USMS OPR representative that every delay without an announcement gives the American public the impression that the USMS is not serious about its Constitutional oath. The USMS OPR representative, who insisted on being “anonymous,” refused to demonstrate any concern on the matter at all. This morning the number of YouTube viewers of the USMS abuse has doubled – without even an announcement by the USMS for the minimal steps to place the Deputy Marshal on administrative leave pending the results of the investigation.
There is the view some have that human rights and the law are separate topics. This makes no sense. Our universal human rights can only be defended when we have competent, dedicated forces of law enforcement to ensure such human rights are protected. Otherwise, every case of human rights violation is dependent on public protest and the public having to do the job that we are have paid our government representatives to do.
Our nation also cannot afford a “secret police.” We cannot afford Ferguson or other police officers who take off or hide their name badges. We cannot afford those who are responsible for defending our Constitution at a federal level hiding behind “anonymity” when our Constitution itself is threatened. We need the defenders of our Constitution to stand up and be counted.
The official response is not disgust, not outrage, not embarrassment. They don’t understand it is not their badge, gun, bullets, uniform. It is ours. It is not “their law.” It is our shared law. We give those resources and that authority because we trust and respect such authorities. Betraying that trust is a dangerous game being played by the reckless who do not have interests of the law and the United States of America at heart.
Abuse of law enforcement authority to attack our shared Constitution and Constitutional rights will only succeed if we tolerate it.
Those who think an environment of lawlessness is acceptable count on the American people to get distracted. They expect if they do nothing, the American people will forget anyways, and they believe the American people’s outrage will eventually burn out while they employ stalling “rope-a-dope” tactics.
Here is what those who tolerate lawlessness in our nation forget.
We are a representative democracy. We have the VOTE. On Election Day, The American people can show how much they tolerate political parties with deafening silence on lawlessness. This is hardly the last of these abuses. We are reaching critical point where the American people’s long-standing respect and trust for our law enforcement is on a serious decline. This is not in the interests of the law enforcement, our government, and the American people.
To those passionately concerned about the 2016 election, I have a reminder regarding how the American public react to a protracted period of lawlessness in our nation.
In 2002, the Washington DC area, Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, Fairfax County, and more was under literal attack, by a terrorist sniper. Sarah Ramos was murdered on a bench not far from my home. The area was under attack. People were shot in public, at gas stations, at bus stops, mowing the lawn, shopping at stores, etc., including the murder of a 13 year old child dropped off at school. Law enforcement miraculously captured the killer when a vigilant public informant told them exactly where the killer was.
At the same time, a campaign was ongoing for the governor of Maryland. While people were being shot in the street, Democratic candidate Kathleen Kennedy Townsend was focused on infrastructure topics including discussion of trash collection (I recall as I was astounded by her lack of concern), and when Kathleen Kennedy Townsend did discuss the attacks on the area, it was to argue against the death penalty and to blame the NRA. What happened was that the first Republican was elected governor of Maryland in over 40 years, in very, very Democratic Maryland. Some historians may choose to ignore this aspect of the 2002 election, but this was a very real concern to voters at the time.
People won’t stand for protracted lawlessness. Americans won’t stand for such lawlessness, whether the criminals are hiding in the shadows or the criminals are wearing a badge.
Whoever our national leaders that we elect in 2016, they must demonstrate that they understand the need and they are committed to ending this disgraceful lawlessness in our nation. To those leaders who are running a slow-start campaign which decides to “ignore” such issues, what they really ignoring is is the most fundamental cohesive force that brings our nation together: our belief in a nation with equal liberty and justice for all and a United States of America with a shared law for all people.
In yet another case of police brutality, a Tulsa, Oklahoma reserve deputy sheriff officer shot and killed an African-American after mistaking his taser gun with his firearm. The Oklahoma reserve deputy Robert Bates is an insurance salesman who performs such reserve functions.
Eric Harris, 44, was reportedly attempting to flee officers during an undercover sting operation in which he was filmed apparently trying to sell an illegal weapon. He was killed by Robert Bates, who has been charged with manslaughter.
The Tulsa World reported that supervisors in the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office were ordered to falsify training records for Robert Bates, to give Bates credit for field training he never took and firearms certifications he should not have received. So when our police are instructed to falsify records in one area, who is also to know whether they are falsifying other records?
We need to operate a trust basis for the law enforcement with whom we entrust the authority to act as the public’s representative in enforcing the law.
On April 4, 2015, a 50 year old African-American Walter Scott was shot to death in the back by a white police officer Michael Slager, in North Charleston, South Carolina, following a daytime traffic stop for a nonfunctioning brake light. Mr. Slager reportedly gave a false police report, and he was arrested for murder after a witness posted a video of Mr. Slager shooting Walter Scott in the back while he was fleeing. The case is to be investigated bu the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED). The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Attorney in South Carolina, and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division will conduct their own investigations.
In the police reports, it was reported that officers performed CPR on Scott, but no such action is visible on the video. The video shows that, after shooting Mr. Scott, Mr. Slager ran back toward where the initial scuffle occurred and picked something up off the ground. Moments later, he dropped the object, possibly the Taser, beside Scott’s body.
Shooting of Walter Scott by White Police Officer Michael Slager – Charged with Murder (Source YouTube)Walter Scott, gunned down in the back, by accused murder, police officer Michael Slager
South Carolina Police Office Michael Slager Charged with Murder of Walter Scott
Responsible for Equality And Liberty defends the right of equal justice for all people, and rejects the use of authority as a tool of oppression to belittle and deny justice to people in the United States of America, and anywhere in the world.
