Freddie Gray may have injured himself. Washington Post.

Protesters in support of Freddie Gray. Wikimedia Commons. 

A prisoner that was in the van with Freddie Gray has claimed that Gray was trying to hurt himself. Washington Post. The prisoner, who is in jail, was separated from Gray by a metal wall, but he could hear him. The prisoner reported that Gray was "banging against the walls". Gray was found unconscious after a 30 minute ride in the van after his arrest. Investigators are not sure if Gray was injured in the van or during his arrest. The driver of the van reported that Gray had been irate and combative the entire time. Officers did violate policy by not restraining Gray, but that policy was only a few days old. 

My Comment:

Well, there goes the narrative. If Freddie Gray was responsible for his own death then the entire riot was for no good reason. Of course even if he was brutally murdered, the riots would not be justified, but that is neither here nor there. Now that there is one witness that said that he did hurt himself and no witnesses so far that say anything else happened, it's clear that the protests were premature. 

Does one witness saying something mean that Gray killed himself? Of course not. But it does show that there is reason to believe that there could be reasonable doubt in this case. It is very possible that the police did very little wrong in this case. Yes, you should be mad that they didn't follow policy or didn't get Gray to a hospital right away, and they should probably face some discipline for that. But they shouldn't lose their jobs or face protests unless it is proven that they did more then fail to follow procedure. And right now there isn't any proof of that. 

I'm sure there that people won't accept this new evidence, or even consider it. People tend to not have open minds about these kinds of things. I'd like to think that if a smoking gun came out in favor of Freddie Gray, I'd change my mind, but I doubt people on the other side would do so for this. I'm guessing people will claim conspiracy or cover up. 

That's not impossible but I think it is unlikely. This report was taken right after the incident occurred so the witness had little reason to lie. He's still in jail so it is unlikely that he was able to cut a deal. Plus, if there is a conspiracy the truth would come out eventually, probably sooner then later. 

One objection I can answer is "why would he hurt himself?" Off the top of my head I can think of a few reason. First, he could have had some kind of mental breakdown. People who are in a psychotic rage can hurt themselves very easily and may not register pain. I haven't heard of Gray having any mental issues though. The second possibility is that he was trying to get out of jail by faking police brutality. That's possible I guess but Gray doesn't seem sophisticated enough to pull it off. Finally, the most likely option was that Gray was really, really mad and was freaking out. That seems rather likely considering people reported that Gray was out of control. 

Is it medically possible for someone to sever their own spine? I'm not sure, I'm not a doctor. It certainly seems possible though. It's also possible that Gray exacerbated injuries he had suffered when the police tackled him. If that's the case, then the cops aren't really responsible. 

Finally, I've heard rumors that Gray had spinal surgery just a few weeks before the incident that caused his death. I'm only pointing this out because they are RUMORS. It is possible but until it gets reported by an actual reliable source, I'd advise caution. The entire problem with these kinds of situations is that everyone believes every rumor they heard on the internet.