No, The Wild Theory About Freddie Gray's 'Pre-Existing' Spinal Injury Isn't True

[DonViejo]

As the streets of Baltimore quieted down Tuesday after a night of widespread looting and violence, the conservative blogosphere heated up with chatter that Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old black man who died after sustaining a severe spinal injury in police custody, may have actually injured himself before his arrest.

A rumor that Gray had a pre-existing spinal injury from a car accident appears to have originated Tuesday with a blog post on the conservative website thefourthestate.co and then spread to other conservative sites like the Free Republic.

The post on thefourthestate.co cited "sources who allege that Freddie Gray received spinal and neck surgery a week before we (sic) was arrested, and was allegedly receiving a large structured settlement from Allstate Insurance." The post also alleged that Gray received the surgery because he had been involved in a car accident.

By way of proof, the website cited Howard County, Maryland court records that showed Gray was recently involved in a civil case with Peachtree Settlement Funding. Allstate Life Insurance was listed as an interested party. Nothing in those records, which were publicly accessible online, indicated that Gray had been in a accident or had sustained a spinal injury.

The Baltimore Sun on Wednesday swiftly debunked the rumor by pulling the full court records related to the civil case. The newspaper reported that paperwork had been filed in December to pay out an $18,000 settlement each to Gray and his sister. Billy Murphy, an attorney for Gray's family, confirmed to the newspaper that those payouts stemmed from a 2008 lawsuit alleging that the two were exposed to dangerous levels of lead paint in their childhood home (the settlement in that suit was reached in 2010 and was not publicly disclosed).

more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/freddie-gray-debunked-rumors-preexisting-injury

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

1. Surprised the bigot racist pukes even bother with a lie, most of them more and more

are willing to admit that killing black people is a good thing, i think

[Octafish]

2. The Right does that a lot, start the disinformation right off the bat in order to counter the truth.

In Ferguson, they said the cop was injured inside the car ya know.

In Florida, they said kid in the hoodie beat the guy with the gun up.

Their formula is to take whatever the truth is and state the opposite in a way to make their crook with a badge look good.

The way it works: The first to get an idea into a head has the better position. Repeated applications of truth are needed to drive out the falsehood. For many, their minds are made up and can't be changed. How many people think Saddam Hussein and Iraq were behind 9-11 attacks?

[Hutzpa]

3. Something I've noticed with all the police killing videos of black men that I've seen

is that even when the victim is in handcuff or has been shot in some ways it still did not stop other officers that
came to scene from violently hitting at the powerless or lifeless individual which I find very disturbing.

That is an area that needs looking into, when shouold the police back away from a powerless individual?

[Bjorn Against]

4. His spine was 80% severed

While I am no expert on spinal injuries I am quite certain that if you sever 80% of your spine you are not going to be walking around on your daily business. While there is a risk of spinal injuries not revealing themselves right away after an accident I am pretty sure those types of injuries that don't show up until later don't involve anything as severe as 80% of the spine being severed.

[VanillaRhapsody]

5. As someone who HAS suffered a severe neck injury....

causing me to be immobilized for 6 months WITHOUT the need for surgery....this is utter hogwash! There is NO F'ing way a person could sustain a neck injury requiring surgery and then just be walking around like everything is normal. I can ASSURE you...with first person knowledge of how much pain a severe neck injury sustains....BELEIVE that...it was excruciating and NO amount of pain pills took it away! I did nothing but sleep in a recliner for the first 2 months.....I went to the bathroom and back to the chair...and it would take every ounce of energy I had to relax my neck enough to reduce the pain. Your head feels like an ANVIL on your neck!

[gratuitous]

7. Oh yeah? Are you a superpredator thug?

I'll bet not. You should know that those superpredator thugs, like the right blogosphere has determined posthumously (once again) that Freddy Gray was, have superhuman tolerance for pain that would cripple others. They're also able to squirm out of handcuffs, straightjackets, and locked rooms better than Houdini in his prime. And they're always - always - reaching for the sidearms of their lawful arrestors. Not to mention that they're in a permanent state of resisting arrest.

So, you can easily see that Freddy Gray had to be exterminated for the good of society. If only these superpredator thugs would use their powers for good, instead of waiting for their inevitable arrest and necessary execution.

[VanillaRhapsody]

8. Yep you have a VERY good point!

[leveymg]

6. The only Pre-Existing injury was the one the arresting officers inflicted. He couldn't walk to the

paddy wagon.

[frylock]

9. What?! Next you're going to tell me Officer Darren Wilson didn't have a fractured orbital socket

[Gothmog]

10. This is just like all of the crazy claims made about Michael Brown

I still remember the lie that Brown broke Darrin Wilson orbital socket

[justiceischeap]

11. Sadly these idiots believe this tripe.

It reinforces their prejudices and makes them feel superior in their absurdity and idiocy.