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.
@Dev Devta
Maybe they did. It certainly isn’t out of the question. But the problem is, can anybody prove it happened??? One of the cops on Kelly last nite said that the cops do put seat belts on complaint prisoners, but they tend to not do it with combative persons because of officer safety. Being that close in a confined space, they get head butted, spit on, bitten, etc. Which is also a plausible reason to not have strapped Freddie in. Isn’t it???
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Again, why no link to a source BamBam? I sure hope you’re not an attorney. That’s sloppy work.
Interesting article.
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Friday, 01 May 2015
Drug Dealer Freddie Gray’s Business Was Hurting Black Kids
Written by Selwyn Duke
Drug Dealer Freddie Gray’s Business Was Hurting Black Kids
“Black Lives matter” they say — but perhaps not to Freddie Gray.
Gray’s April 12 death while in Baltimore police custody has sparked protests and been used as an excuse for rioting. Of course, it’s still not entirely clear what caused the criminal’s demise. A police report has been issued indicating that Gray injured himself, with a wound on his head matching a bolt in the police van in which he was transported. And the arrestee sharing that van with Gray, Donta Allen, reportedly says he didn’t see any harm done to the man, but heard him thrashing around “like he was banging his head.” On the other hand, it has just been announced that Baltimore’s top prosecutor is bringing criminal charges against the six police officers involved in the incident, alleging, among other things, that Gray was subject to a false arrest.
Whatever the case, something is clear. While Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake infamously has said “We don’t have thugs in Baltimore” (at least, maybe, not any more than they have homosexuals in Iran), they certainly did have at least one:
Freddie Gray.
It appears that Gray’s business, you see, was hurting black kids. Just take a gander at his body of work (rap sheet):
• March 20, 2015: Possession of a Controlled Dangerous Substance
• March 13, 2015: Malicious destruction of property, second-degree assault
• January 20, 2015: Fourth-degree burglary, trespassing
• January 14, 2015: Possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute
• December 31, 2014: Possession of narcotics with intent to distribute
• December 14, 2014: Possession of a controlled dangerous substance
• August 31, 2014: Illegal gambling, trespassing
• January 25, 2014: Possession of marijuana
• September 28, 2013: Distribution of narcotics, unlawful possession of a controlled dangerous substance, second-degree assault, second-degree escape
• April 13, 2012: Possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute, unlawful possession of a controlled dangerous substance, violation of probation
• July 16, 2008: Possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession with intent to distribute
• March 28, 2008: Unlawful possession of a controlled dangerous substance
• March 14, 2008: Possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to manufacture and distribute
• February 11, 2008: Unlawful possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of a controlled dangerous substance
• August 29, 2007: Possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute, violation of probation
• August 28, 2007: Possession of marijuana
• August 23, 2007: False statement to a peace officer, unlawful possession of a controlled dangerous substance
• July 16, 2007: Possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute, unlawful possession of a controlled dangerous substance (2 counts)
As Heavy.com points out, the above 18 arrests are only the ones we know about. To the point here, however, note that eight of the arrests involve “distribution of” or the “intent to distribute” illegal drugs, and another seven involve “possession.” There are burglary, trespassing, second-degree assault, and a few other charges to spice things up, but as Heavy.com also writes “Gray has been in and out of prison on drug convictions since 2008…. He was set to start a trial in May on drug charges stemming from a December arrest.” The site in addition quotes Deputy Police Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez as saying that when Gray was last apprehended he was “in a high-crime area known to have high narcotic incidents.” In other words:
Freddie Gray was a drug dealer.
This means, assuming he wasn’t a principled pusher who checked I.D. before making sales, his business was getting black youth hooked on narcotics.
Black lives matter?
Not to the protesters, rioters, and those enabling them it would seem. After all, with 93 percent of black homicide victims being murdered by other blacks, Gray seemed to fit the standard profile: a black criminal who preyed on his own community. Yet not only aren’t such miscreants objects of protest, they’re called “misdirected” children by misdirecting leaders.
Also note that the rap sheet here would merely be the adult record of Gray, who at his death was just a few months shy of his 26th birthday. Whatever juvenile record he has compiled would likely be sealed and thus unavailable. Moreover, his rap sheet only reflects the times he got caught and charged, which, according to author Colin Flaherty, is unlikely to happen in Baltimore these days. Why? Because Mayor Blake — even more infamous for saying that she gave her city’s rioter thugs “space” to “destroy” in what appears to have been a stand-down order to police — has an interesting “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” method for reducing crime: just stop arresting people.
So Freddie Gray had space to destroy — black kids’ lives.
Courtesy of Mayor Blake and other racialist “leaders.”
None of this is to say that what occurred that fateful April 12 was or wasn’t right. It is to say, however, that the media — just as they dubbed Ferguson thug Mike Brown the “gentle giant” — have to an extent beatified a drug dealer. They’ve turned Gray into a protest-worthy cause and Baltimore upside-down.
Commenting on this, radio host Rush Limbaugh noted yesterday that “there’s an interesting way to look at” the criminal’s multitude of arrests.
“Look at how many times the police did not kill Freddie Gray,” he quipped.
This humor gets at a truth: With Gray’s “deathstyle” of continual crime and police contact, probability was high that it was only a matter of time before he ended in prison — or dead. And if it was to be the latter and not in police custody, there was that 93-plus percent chance it would have been at another black person’s hands. But would this have mattered to Mayor Blake, Al Sharpton, and the other race baiters? Do they consider that maybe, just perhaps, Gray’s demise may mean a couple of black kids won’t become junkies?
Some certainly could get the idea that “Black Lives Matter” — when they can be used for political gain.
BamBam, I just got done saying NONE of us know anything that wasn’t revealed in the investigation. I’m not the one linking to bogus stories, lol.
@bam bam
Maybe I should do a Snopes search on whether 50 detectives could fit inside the Death Van??? God forbid any of them had a chili dog for lunch!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
So squeaky, being well known is a reason to arrest some one!! Look, I do not believe the cops wanted to kill him….they just decided to ‘play’ with him, take him for a ‘rough ride’. They, the Cops just crossed a limit and then there was no going back…..all the other stories, like prior condition, suicide etc were floated by the cops to see if anything stuck.
We might be better able to draw some conclusions if a rap sheet also included convictions.
I think the extensive rap sheet allows us to draw some conclusions about Gray’s lifestyle choices. One or two arrests might be something that people can overlook even without convictions. Everyone makes some stupid choices in their lives.. However, years and years of lawless behaviour and multiple arrests for the same thing…over and over and over and escalating makes us able to conclude that Mr. Gray is/was a career criminal. He was a f*ck up and on his way to bigger and better things.
A revolving door of arrest and release. Just like we have in our area. Same guys committing the same crimes and then getting put back on the street to commit the same crimes on the public. The police are probably sick and tired of seeing these same dirt bags over and over again. I know that WE are out here in the public.
Once again. THAT is not an excuse for police brutality, IF there was police brutality. We haven’t gotten that information as yet. But we do have the information about Gray’s past actions.
Frankly…..I think the police should just all stand down and let these communities police themselves. The cops can’t win. If they do something, they are a target. If they do nothing, they are a target.
I’m sorry for the struggling normal people who are just trying to make a living and not get killed in the h3llhole that they are living in. Maybe THEY should do something about it.
allegations are, not is
Racism had nothing to do with it.
I have no knowledge that the allegations of a spinal surgery, a week prior to the arrest, is bogus. Neither do you, I. Annie.
Even if found to be true, you would discount it as irrelevant. Makes no difference.
More information should have been collected before these charges were made. The officers were charged to calm the rioting and looting. Not something that any society should aspire to become–a place in which mob rule is allowed to dictate justice.
@bam bam
Oh, you are such a buzz kill! How dare you interfere with a good old fashioned Racsim Orgy!
Look, the drums start pounding, and participants break out in a fevered sweat, their writhing bodies glistening with the moisture, while shouts of “Tu-li-ku-ta Racism! Tu-li-ku-ta Racism!” And now they fall upon the ground and crawl upon their bellies like a reptile—oh wait! That’s the hoochee coochee girls at the Freddy Gray Street Carnival.
Never mind!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Philly, he was a bad guy, deserved to be killed without due process, I guess.
There were 50 detectives on this investigation, there was more than enough probable cause for an indictment.
Ruin the lives of six people the way they ruined Freddie’s? Is that what you mean?
Judge Dredd wanna be’s. BamBam, you sure don’t seem to have any “relevant facts”. Bogus report of neck injury, lol.
After all, folks, what’s a little burglary and drug dealing among friends?
Let’s elevate him to the status of Saint Michael Brown and instead ruin the careers and lives of six people, charged with serious crimes, even before the authorities have all of the relevant facts.
Now that’s what you call justice.
Where are the toxicology reports? I hadn’t heard they were made public.
The rap sheet is interesting.
We might be better able to draw some conclusions if a rap sheet also included convictions.
Everybody here understand the pot is legally described as a controlled dangerous substance? Could all those arrests have been the result of a little weed – you know – the same stuff that some use for back pain?
Anybody wonder why the cops describe the knife as a switchblade? Does that bother anybody?
I know. Let’s have a trial regarding the possession of a switchblade that prompted the arrest.
Uh oh. Nevermind. No trial needed. The guy is dead.
Some people deserve a good killin’……apparently.
A lengthy arrest record is not a death warrant, nor an excuse to murder someone.