Excerpt: " Baltimore's police commissioner says he is not stepping down as a top police official admitted that Freddie Gray should have gotten medical attention the moment of his arrest - not after placed in a police van."
Two men hold flag at protest for death of Freddie Gray by the Baltimore Police Department. (photo: JM Giordano/Guardian)
Baltimore Police Commissioner Admits to Mistakes in Freddie Gray's Handling, Won't Resign
25 April 15
altimore's police commissioner says he is not stepping down as a top police official admitted that Freddie Gray should have gotten medical attention the moment of his arrest – not after placed in a police van.
Commissioner Anthony Batts, speaking at a press conference Friday, admitted that his officers made mistakes during Gray's April 12th arrest which resulted in a fatal spine injury but he defiantly brushed off calls for him to resign.
“That’s not going to happen. I'm focused on my job. I'm focused on this investigation,” he said.
Batts' vow came as a top officer spearheading their investigation said that Gray should have been given medical treatment the moment he was handcuffed.
"That's quite frankly where Freddie Gray should have received medical attention and he did not," Deputy Commissioner Kevin Davis said.
Batts added that despite Gray’s pleas for medical help, officers "failed to get him medical attention in a timely manner multiple times.”
Gray was also not buckled up inside of the van, he said, violating his department’s rules.
"No excuses for that, period," Batts said.
Instead the 25-year-old was placed in leg irons and driven to a police station. The 30-minute ride included three stops during which a second prisoner was added to the back.
It was only after their arrival that an ambulance was called when Gray was found struggling to breathe and unable to speak. He died a week later.
Davis said they're now looking into "each and every stop along the way."
"How long it took, the distance, the travel route," he said. "We need to know from A to Z what exactly occurred on each and every stop."
As of Friday Davis said five of six of their officers have given statements on the incident while the sixth continues to invoke their right not to speak.
Batts said they're particularly interesting in learning how Gray was seated inside of the vehicle and how he appeared before his arrival.
He said he's added more than 30 investigators to their task force and on Friday will submit their findings to the state attorney's office.
He called that "not the conclusion of our investigation" but "step two."
"We will continue to follow the evidence wherever it goes."
Earlier in the day the city's mayor also publicly spoke out saying what happened to Gray while in police custody was “absolutely unacceptable and I want answers.”
“A mother has to bury her child and she doesn't even know how or why this tragedy occurred only that this tragedy occurred while her child was in our custody, in police custody and this is not acceptable,” Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said at a press conference.
The mayor specified concern over police policies and procedures in Gray's transportation not being followed as well as the 25-year-old not immediately provided medical assistance when he requested it.
Rawlings-Blake’s stern words come less than a week after Gray's death, with his family’s attorney describing his spinal cord as nearly severing after placed in a police van for unclear reasons.
The mayor stressed her trust that an investigation into what happened will be “comprehensive, thorough and fair,” and that if necessary “we will hold the appropriate parties responsible.”
In the meantime she asked protesters to continue to exercise their rights, but in a peaceful manner.
Maryland’s Governor Larry Hogan echoed that plea in his own statement on Twitter Friday which chiefly praised protesters for their civilized behavior.
“To date, the nature of these demonstrations have been a testament to Baltimore's strong character and our common commitment to peace and justice. It is my hope that events planned for this weekend continue to reflect positively on the community," he stated in part.
Hogan’s request follows more than 200 protesters descending on Baltimore’s City Hall and marching through rush hour traffic downtown Thursday afternoon, chanting and demonstrating against police brutality until about 10 p.m.
Some protesters antagonized the officers and state troopers on the scene, shouting insults and hurling objects, but no violence was reported.
“We’re not calling for revenge,” the Rev. Jamal Bryant of Baltimore’s Empowerment Temple, one of several speakers outside City Hall, told the crowd.
“We’re calling for justice.”
Two protesters were arrested, the department said on its Twitter page.
“We are listening to the concerns of the community while protecting their constitutional rights to protest and be heard,” the department tweeted hours into the protests.
On Thursday, a lawyer for the Baltimore police officers union said officers did not buckle Gray during the drive to the station, a potentially fatal oversight specifically prohibited by new guidelines approved by the department days before the 25-year-old’s death.
Lt. Brian Rice, the police supervisor suspended for Gray’s death, was accused in 2013 of stalking and threatening to kill a man as part of a “a pattern of intimidation and violence” that resulted in a temporary restraining order, according to an investigation published by the Guardian on Thursday.
And the man who filmed Gray’s arrest told the Baltimore Sun Thursday police had the man's body twisted like “origami” and “a pretzel” while apprehending him.
Gray suffered a massive spinal cord injury in custody and died a week later in a hospital. His cause of death remains unknown and the Justice Department announced Tuesday it is opening a federal investigation into the arrest.
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