Did Freddie Gray Die From A Police “Nickel Ride?”
I’ve spoken of this before. I’ve experienced it in my youth. So have some of my friends. That’s what happens when you are considered “trouble” or just a punk with no one to care about you.
In the back of my head I’ve had this since this broke. They took Freddie Gray for a ride to Western District HQ.
Just how that ride went is up in the air. No one seems to know what transpired.
They put Freddie in a police van. In my day in North Philly it was called a “Paddy Wagon.” In the old days there were no seatbelts or anything but two benches in the back. That and all open metal framing. No insulation. No padding.
Since I have not been in the back of one recently I do not know what it looks like. But padded or not, if you are taken on a nickel ride, one cop watches you and instructs the other on when to slam on the brakes or yank the wheel to inflict the most damage. When your hands are cuffed behind you… you get the picture.
So now they are looking into whether or not this happened. What has happened is a total breakdown of law enforcement. A new bullet proof breed that thinks they are the answer. They’ve always been scattered through out the industry. Seems to be more now.
You know how many times I ran from the cops? It was common procedure. The police were not the friends of corner boys or anyone else who looked like “trouble.” Seems black looks like trouble all the time anymore, and the finger is always on the trigger. Desensitized to the reality of it all it seems.
Rioting is not the answer, but I know what helplessness feels like. I also know what payback looks like. And I’m white.