Fox News gone wild: The ludicrous stories about how Freddie Gray injured himself - Joan Walsh [View all]
Tales of a car crash, or Gray harming himself in the police van, don't hold up. So where is the police report?
JOAN WALSH
Late Wednesday night, the
Washington Post dropped a bombshell in the Freddie Gray case: according to a second-hand report from the prisoner who traveled in the same police van, Gray was banging against the walls of the van as though he was intentionally trying to injure himself. On Fox,
Sean Hannity went predictably nuts about the blockbuster, and used it to blame President Obama for weighing in on race relations before the facts are known.
The Post has done some good reporting from Baltimore, but this scoop is curious. Police Commissioner Anthony Batts had previously cited the same prisoner as saying the ride he shared with Gray was quiet and uneventful.
NBC affiliate WBALs Jayne Miller took the story apart within about an hour, reporting that the prisoner in question only got aboard on the vans fourth stop, and was with him for five or six minutes. Gray had been alone in the van, with police, for at least a half hour, Miller said, citing the cops own timeline, during which time the vehicle made a curious stop to place the young West Baltimore man in leg irons.
The Post called the story the first glimpse of what actually happened inside the van, and added that it is not clear whether any additional evidence backs up the prisoners version. Thats one way to put it.
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http://www.salon.com/2015/04/30/fox_gone_wild_the_ludicrous_stories_about_how_freddie_gray_injured_himself/