I read an article online today that outlined the physical maladies of Freddie Gray as little as 10 days prior to his arrest. I'm still trying to figure this one out.
The article outlined that Freddie Gray could have prevented his own death by not getting into a high speed chase with police. This is one of those "if you weren't breaking the law in the first place" defenses. Sure, and if Lincoln could've skipped the play that night... I mean yeah, he put himself in a precarious position. Maybe he should've been more careful nursing a recent back and neck surgery. The article's main point was that since he had prior injuries to the neck, the police aren't as responsible for Gray's death as they would've been otherwise. Maybe he would've just been seriously injured!
I think despite the prior injuries Freddie Gray had, this is how this is going to shake out: were the arrest techniques used on Freddie Gray enough to cause serious injury to Freddie Gray? Could his death have been prevented? And was there malice in the arrest.
The rioters and protesters are two different people, I'd like to think. Some people just look for a reason to steal stuff, but I applaud the protests. I think the police should be called to the carpet when someone in police custody dies, especially if it's an injury or death from being arrested. Let a jury decide if the prior neck injury was really to blame, or how much of it played a part. I'm very curious about Baltimore right now.
Mainly I'd like to see shop owners on top of their roofs with rifles defending their businesses like the Korean shop owners in the 92' LA riots!