Like many, I am still waiting for the evidence used as the basis to charge the six officers in Baltimore for the death of Freddie Gray. This morning, however, I was disturbed to read that an effort to create a fundraising site for the defense of the officers was taken down on GoFundMe. It appears that the site has a very questionable standard for funding that does not afford accused parties a presumption of innocence in asking for support to fund their defense.
The Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police created a GoFundMe page for the six officers after they were charged Friday. However, less than an hour later, it was taken down.
After 41 minutes, it has only raised $1,135 — considerably short of the $600,000 goal.
There is no confirmation on who is responsible. However, the site states the following : “‘Campaigns in defense of formal charges of heinous crimes’ are prohibited by our terms . . . GoFundMe cannot be used to benefit those who are charged with serious violations of the law.” Really? Why? I was under the impression that people were given a presumption of innocence in this country. Why shouldn’t this site be used to help guarantee a fair trial for anyone facing prosecution? Moreover, how do you define a serious violation? Clearly, this case would qualify but where is the line drawn?
This is a site that is designed to help people organize in making donations to support different causes. Giving such charity is a positive act, including giving money to guarantee a fully funded defense. Our criminal justice system is a foundational part of our society. It reflects our commitment to the rule of law. Central to that institution is the presumption of innocence. I find this policy of GoFundMe to be inexplicable and distasteful. Many people want to support the criminal justice system as much as environmental or other causes. The policy makes, in my view, an arbitrary and biased decision in barring those who are accused of serious offenses by the government. It should equally presumably bar those who are viewed as victims of government abuse like journalists or whistleblowers.
I also was a bit concerned to read Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby comments telling protesters: “I heard your calls for, ‘No Justice, No peace.’ Your peace is sincerely needed as I work to deliver justice on behalf of this young man.” I generally think it is a bad idea for prosecutors to directly respond to public protests demanding criminal charges. Such protests should not have an influence on the decision to prosecute and it is always a concern, as with Mike Nifong in the Duke case, where prosecutors are seen as too responsive to public demands for criminal charges. This is not meant to suggest that a criminal case cannot be made but these press conferences can undermine the integrity of a prosecution if the chief prosecutor is viewed as too influenced by external events or demands.
Comment stuck. Help appreciated.
Annie
As I have said before, good cops don’t allow bad cops in their ranks. I’ll add this, it appears that bad cops push out the good cops. Good video.
@Max-1
Max, that is the best thing you have ever posted here! Thank you!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
This is a pretty full account of the arrest and transportation of Freddie Gray. I suspect some may not have read a full account. This is from the Washington Post.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/overnight-calm-in-baltimore-as-tensions-remain-and-protests-expected/2015/05/01/00e07e7a-efe6-11e4-8666-a1d756d0218e_story.html
excerpt:
Rice, Miller and Nero were on bicycle patrol the morning of April 12 when Rice “made eye contact” with Gray near North Avenue at Mount Street in West Baltimore, Mosby said. She said Gray then ran, with the officers in pursuit, before he was caught a few blocks away on Presbury Street.
Gray “was then placed in a prone position with his arms handcuffed behind his back,” Mosby said. “It was at this time that Mr. Gray indicated that he could not breathe and requested an inhaler, to no avail.”
Miller and Nero moved Gray to a sitting position on the sidewalk and frisked him, finding the folding knife “clipped to the inside of his pants pocket,” Mosby said. She said Gray was then placed “back down on his stomach, at which time [he] began to flail his legs and scream” as Miller and Nero forcibly restrained him.
The van arrived, driven by Goodson, and Rice, Miller and Nero loaded the handcuffed Gray into the back, without securing him with a seat belt, Mosby said. She said the van initially was bound for a police facility downtown. After a short distance, though, Goodson stopped on Baker Street so that Rice, Miller and Nero could “complete required paperwork.”
There, Rice, Miller and Nero took Gray out of the van and placed shackles on his ankles, and then returned him to the van, headfirst, on the floor, Mosby said.
She said Gray suffered a critical neck injury after the van left Baker Street. After traveling nearly a mile, Goodson stopped the van at Mosher Street and Freemont Avenue “in order to observe Mr. Gray,” Mosby said. “Despite stopping for the purpose of checking on the status of Mr. Gray’s condition, at no point did he seek or did he render” medical aid.
Goodson stopped again after several blocks, at Dolphin Street and Druid Hill Avenue, and radioed to a dispatcher that he needed to check on the condition of his prisoner, Mosby said. She said Porter, on patrol, met Goodson at the intersection.
She said Goodson and Porter checked on Gray, “who at that time requested help and indicated that he could not breathe.” Porter asked Gray “if he needed a medic, at which time Mr. Gray indicated at least twice that he was in need of a medic.”
Porter helped Gray off the floor and onto a bench, Mosby said, but neither officer summoned medical help for him. Instead, Goodson, “in a grossly negligent manner,” chose to drive to North and Pennsylvania avenues to pick up another man who had just been arrested, Mosby said. “Once the wagon arrived, Officer Goodson walked to the back of the wagon and again opened the doors . . . to make observations of Mr. Gray.”
White met the van at North and Pennsylvania avenues. She “observed Mr. Gray unresponsive of the floor of the wagon” and “spoke to the back of Mr. Gray’s head,” Mosby said. “When he did not respond, she did nothing further, despite the fact that she was advised that he needed a medic.”
The van eventually arrived at the Western District police station, where officers left the ailing Gray in the van while the other prisoner was processed, Mosby said. By the time White and two other officers, who were not charged, went to remove Gray from the van, he had suffered cardiac arrest and “was no longer breathing at all.”
Goodson was charged with second-degree murder under the legal theory of “depraved heart,” which doesn’t require an intent to kill. He also was charged with involuntary manslaughter, manslaughter by vehicle, second-degree assault and misconduct in office.
“Depraved-heart murder requires what I call super-gross negligence,” said Robert Bonsib, a Greenbelt defense lawyer and former prosecutor who is not involved in the case.
The most serious charge against White, Porter and Rice is involuntary manslaughter. Each also was charged with second-degree assault and other crimes. Nero and Miller were charged with second-degree assault, false imprisonment and misconduct in office.
“This appears to be a complicated set of facts,” Bonsib said.
End of Washington Post excerpt.
____________________________________
I suggest the cops knew something bad had happened to Gray. Look at how many times they stopped the police van to check on him. I suspect that cops are not usually so concerned about their passengers. It suggests some ‘nervousness’ – yet not enough for the idiots to take him straight to ER. I think they were hoping to god that somehow he would ‘revive’ and everything would be fine.
WadeWilliams: I retrieved your comment on 2015/05/02 at 6:16 pm
Squeeky
Incorrect… This is what trolling looks like.
http://youtu.be/fkJUVrNrV5Q
bam bam
What exactly dod Freddy do to deserve being killed by negligence, again?
Annie,
As I linked to above, the lead officer’s mental state and instability is core to understanding why the Baltimore PD kept him on the force in the first place.
fiver
Those stories that Freddie Gray had a preexisting spinal injury are totally bogus
= = =
Makes one wonder why people attempt to lynch a dead man just to disway Justice of his accused killers… Kelly’s interview as demonstration #1, with an “officer” anonymously feeding untruths and misdirections to a larger audience.
If it’s fair to list the deceased’s past history, why isn’t it fair to reveal the accused’s past history? This may be something that comes up at trial to speak to the stability of this police officer, who knows?
* on probation*
“90 days prior to his arrest.” But was he on peobayprion at the time of his arrest? Fast and loose with the “facts”.
Yes, disregard all information pertaining to Gray’s life of crime and his multiple vacations in prison. Let’s all concentrate on an alleged story about one of the police officers, which involves no crime being committed.
Brilliant. How relevant. Much more relevant than a life of crime.
Annie
Bakers and photographers are the only ones allowed to decide who they will serve and why, it seems.
= = =
And cops get to decide who lives and dies… GoFundMe!
@Max-1
No, that was just “witty repartee.” This is what “trolling you” looks like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQvmCfwRBLY
Although, it is kind of witty too, now that I think of it!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/23/baltimore-officer-who-chased-freddie-gray-had-pattern-of-violence-court-filings
Max, here’s another disturbing article on Lt. Rice.
*********************************
“The Baltimore police supervisor suspended over the death of Freddie Gray was accused of threatening to kill a man as part of an alleged “pattern of intimidation and violence” that led to a temporary restraining order.
Brian Rice, lieutenant suspended in police-van death that sparked federal inquiry, was ordered to stay away from man who had ‘fear of imminent harm or death’ from Brian Rice.
“I witnessed Brian Rice remove a black semi-automatic handgun from the trunk of his vehicle,” the man wrote in his petition for protection. As Rice screamed demands for the man to come out of his house, the man called 911 and officers from Carroll County sheriff’s department and Westminster police department arrived, he wrote.”
Mr Turley,
Here is an explanation as to why GoFundMe changed their policy…
After Shutting Down Christian Bakers’ Fundraising Campaign, GoFundMe Makes Policy Change
http://dailysignal.com/2015/04/30/after-shutting-down-christian-bakers-fundraising-campaign-gofundme-makes-policy-change/
… Because those involved in or accused of criminal activity shouldn’t be granted avenues to profit from their crimes, perhaps?
To report a campaign that you believe violates the guidelines below, please contact us at: http://www.gofundme.com/contact
Sexually explicit material
Sexually suggestive material
Adult services or products
Pornography of any kind
Material relating to adult industry
Campaigns in defense of formal charges or claims of heinous crimes, violent, hateful, sexual or discriminatory acts
Content associated with hate groups or terrorist organizations
Campaigns including inflammatory or accusatory statements
Underage consumption or abuse of alcohol, tobacco, or narcotics
Drug abuse, products or paraphernalia
The illegal purchase or use of marijuana
Offering equity or return-on-investment
Pyramid or ponzi schemes, “get rich quick” schemes
Purchases of annuities, investments, equity or lottery contracts
Offshore banking or currency exchanges
Betting, gambling, raffles, or sweepstakes
Exchange of unrecognized or crypto-currencies
Offering monetary rewards, including gift cards
Non-medical or violent bodily mutilation
Non-prescribed drug use or purchase
Graphic content of injuries or procedures
Procedures conducted outside of an accredited medical institution
Directly funding an abortion (human or animal)
The purchase, transfer or production of non-FDA approved ingestible or consumable products and services
Hurtful or hateful language
Violent or hateful material
Materials including bigotry, racism, sexism, or profanity
Supporting or inciting treasonous behavior
False, misleading, dishonest statements
Blood, gore, graphic material
Sorcery, unexplained sciences or absurd claims
Funding or planning an assassination, suicide, or assisted suicide
Ending the life of an animal
The purchase, transfer, or exchange of weapons of any kind including guns, knives, explosives and ammunition
Campaigns in support of rebel groups, militias, gangs, or any organized violence
While these guidelines may not cover every unique scenario, GoFundMe will always review questionable campaigns on a case-by-case basis and will take appropriate action where necessary.
NOTE: Campaign organizers will not be penalized for unwanted and inappropriate comments relating to the items above posted to their campaigns by others.
Max-1 – thanks for the list of GoFundMe no-nos. Interesting that they discriminate themselves. Using their philosophy, they could not fund themselves.
Is CBS considered disreputable? I guess that it is when a reverend, who professes to have supervised Gray’s work, DURING HIS PROBATION, 90 days prior to this arrest, is mentioned. Could it be that the ones, calling for the heads of these officers, formulate the facts as they go along? CBS is now disreputable because it may have just exposed Gray’s probation.
Facts are such a nuisance for those who have already condemned these officers.
Lieutenant Brian Rice charged in Freddie Gray death had weapons seized in 2012
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-riots/bs-md-brian-rice-20150501-story.html
… So, there’s that.