Free Republic

Online reports are swirling that Freddie Gray had spinal surgery shortly before he died in police custody, and had collected a payout in a settlement from a car accident. Those reports — which raise questions about the injury that led to his death in April 19 — point to Howard County court records as proof. But court records examined Wednesday by The Baltimore Sun show the case had nothing to do with a car accident or a spine injury. Instead, they are connected to a lawsuit alleging that Gray and his sister were injured by exposure to lead paint.

CONFIRMED: Court records show Freddie Gray was receiving a structured settlement from Allstate Insurance and attempted to convert it into one lump sum in early March ———————————————————————————————————————————– EXCLUSIVE: The Fourth Estate has learned that Freddy Gray’s life-ending injuries to his spine may have possibly been the result of spinal and neck surgery that he allegedly received a week before he was arrested, not from rough excessively rough treatment or abuse from police. The Fourth Estate has contacted sources who allege that Freddy Gray received spinal and neck surgery a week before we was arrested, and was allegedly receiving a large...

Rumors have circulated through social media and on some websites that Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old Baltimore man who died April 19 after he was injured while in police custody, had a previous spinal injury that caused his death. The rumors also claim that Gray had spinal fusion surgery not long before his arrest to repair an injury caused by a car accident, which he received an insurance settlement for.

“We have no information or evidence at this point to indicate that there is a prior pre-existing spinal injury,” said Jason Downs, an attorney representing one of Gray’s relatives, told the Sun. “It’s a rumor.” And yet that rumor might have caused real damage in a country already polarized on the subject of race and the police. The story quickly spread to several other Web sites, such as Free Republic and the Conservative Tree House, which called Gray’s supposedly pre-existing injury “a potential game changing discovery. A site called New York City Guns ran the headline “Dead Baltimore Drug Dealer...

A prisoner who shared a ride to jail with Freddie Gray claims the 25-year-old was trying to injure himself inside a police van before he died from unexplained spinal chord injuries, according to a leaked police report. The report was leaked to the Washington Post under the proviso that the prisoner remains anonymous - raising questions about its accuracy and the favorable light which it shines on the Baltimore police force