Gray’s death is being ruled a homicide. Watching the press conference now.
Wow, there are a lot of charges. I’m amazed.
I do not know how his spine got injured. If it was injured in a rough ride before Allan was put into the van, it apparently changed the instant they put another prisoner in. I don’t know why they would be rough with one prisoner but smooth with two.
I also don’t know what degree of paralysis Gray suffered from his neck injury. How much could he move? Could he move enough to struggle after being leg-cuffed? Did he suffer some degree of injury being arrested, then further injury in the van before Allan was arrested? If the ride was smooth for Allan, Gray must have been able to move to some degree - otherwise Allan would not have heard four seconds of movement.
Maybe Gray was injured being arrested, and his injury worsened along the way - either because he struggled, or because of a rough ride that ended when Allan was placed in the van with him. Or maybe Allan was wrong about the ride being smooth, or that he heard Gray struggling either more, or less, than four seconds worth.
So of course, based on these facts, we can be reasonably sure that the Baltimore police deliberately murdered him because he was black.
Regards,
Shodan
Further investigation will tell use more, but at this point, the police look like they really screwed up. Why they mistreated him is not known, whether it was racial or not. But it’s pretty clear so far he was mistreated.
And you know this, how?
And these people are thugs too, right?
The same definition still applies.
thug
noun
› a man who acts violently, esp. a criminal:
Some thugs smashed his windows.
The volunteer cleanup crews appeared to be some of the same people who had been standing between the police lines and the thugs the day before.
I suppose it possible that the same drunken assholes who had spent the night looting, and burning, had sobered up and came back a few hours later to clean up the streets, and repair the damaged buildings.
We can also be sure the cops have been forthright and cooperative throughout, in the interest of truth and transparency.
And the burning, looting, and rioting is an expression of civic-mindedness.
It’s good when the SDMB comes together like this.
Regards,
Shodan
So, yes then? We can agree that a lot of the resistance to British rule carried out by American colonists was done so by thugs? So it would seem that the thugs in Baltimore are similar to the thugs in the Sons of Liberty.
To be sure, those in America opposed to a foreign ruler engaged in plenty of thuggery (esp. criminal behavior) in advance of and during “civilized” revolution toward the loyalists and others representing the Crown. Even without an overriding conflict, humans will do what they believe they “have to” to survive and thrive. We aren’t terribly superior to the average virus (actually, virus is far better at evolution than humans).
The same things that ended the British Empire and all the empires that ever were may take however many more decades to end the Empire that is the U.S. (the presence of ignorance and lack of self-awareness helps enormously). Human nature is what it is; the herd doesn’t often change trajectory until it’s in panic mode.
If (pale) folks don’t want revolution, then it is ultimately in their own best interest to move way from a protocol of containment-and-(petty)-appeasement (and only when necessary) to the realization that change is inevitable. It’s simply math(s). Extermination protocol, as with those who occupied the lands before we arrived, is not feasible. But then common sense doesn’t really enter into the equation – nor right – so the primary trajectory will remain unchanged.
Maybe extraterrestrials will invade, and it’ll be kumbaya until it isn’t. (Even if repelled, we’ll go back to business as usual.) 
So, yes then.
A lot of the resistance to British rule was carried out by the Continental Army. There was also resistance by militias, saboteurs, and spys. I’m sure the British, German auxiliaries, and loyalists considered their opposition to be thugs, just as the patriots considered their opposition to be thugs. Assuming that the opposition committed acts of violence.
Thugs are thugs. Our thugs were cheeky and fun. Their thugs were cruel and tragic.
It seems that there is no racial overtone to the use of the word - thug.
Three of the 6 officers charged are black. This is not a racial issue, it is a police brutality issue.
FWIW, the three arresting officers were white. The van driver and two other officers who checked on Gray but didn’t see anything wrong were black.
The issue is that certain populations like poor urban blacks are seen as essentially fair game for being brutalized, the race of the cops is irrelevant.
There have been many cases involving homeless people also brutalized
Bad cops pick those they perceive as on the lower rungs of society to victimize.
I don’t agree; I don’t think the race of the cops is irrelevant. Not at all. This is a police brutality issue–not a racial issue. It may have to do with those who live in ghettos or are poor and vulnerable, but it cannot be a race issue when half of the cops involved are black.
This is aboutu bad cops, not about race.
I don’t think the race of the cops is irrelevant. Not at all. This is a police brutality issue–not a racial issue. It may have to do with those who live in ghettos or are poor and vulnerable, but it cannot be a race issue when half of the cops involved are black.
This is about bad cops, not about race.
Careful with that word, Eugene.