According to Baltimore police, Freddie Gray was “irate” in a transport van after his arrest and they had to restrain him. However, that account is being challenged with the release by The Baltimore Sun today of a new video taken by a witness at the van's Baker and Mount Street stop.
In the video Gray is seen “halfway out of the van, his stomach flat on the floor, and his legs hanging off the back. He does not move as four officers stand over him and place shackles around his ankles.”
A police news release on April 16 stated that when the van departed from Mount and Baker streets, video evidence indicated that Gray was "conscious and speaking," yet it's not known what video the police are talking about. The account of the eyewitness who recorded the video reveals otherwise.
The Baltimore Sun reports:
The video shot by Gross' neighbor is distorted, and shows just a few seconds at the back of the van. As officers restrain Gray, the video shows another officer pull up in a patrol car, get out and walk toward the van. (The neighbor did not allow his name to be published because he feared retaliation by police, but Gross allowed The Sun to copy the video from her phone.)
At this point on the cell phone video, Gross yells to Gray, "You all right?" No response is detectable from the recording and Gross said she didn't hear Gray respond. Her neighbor yells, "Porter, can we get a supervisor up here please?" He said he was yelling at officer William Porter, who would be one of the six charged in the case.
The neighbor said Porter motioned to Rice, identifying him as the supervisor. On the video, the neighbor says, "Can we get someone else out here? This is not cool. This is not cool. Do you hear me?" The man's shouts are heard on the phone, but not the officers' responses.
The man said that Rice and other officers moved toward him, blocking his view of the van. They didn't ask him to stop recording, but Rice took out his Taser and threatened to use it if he didn't leave, the man said.
Due to those shackles and not wearing a seatbelt, Gray “suffered a severe and critical neck injury,” according to prosecutors.