By: James Simpson
DC Independent Examiner

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake comes out after the destruction is complete

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake comes out after the destruction is complete Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images

Conservative Treehouse is reporting that Freddie Gray, Jr., the man whose death in police custody set off this weekend’s Baltimore riots, may have had spinal surgery just one week earlier. Court records unearthed by the Fourth Estate describe a structured settlement with Allstate Insurance Co. which they allege came from a car accident Gray was involved in.

Another post just up by criminal justice expert John Cardillo however, challenges the idea that cited civil litigation arose from an auto accident. Gray was a defendant, not a plaintiff in this recent case, which Cardillo says stemmed from litigation launched in 2008 by Freddie’s sister over lead poisoning years earlier. Cardillo harshly criticizes Fourth Estate for “highly unethical and irresponsible” reporting, given what he reveals to be the facts of the referenced case.

For its part, Fourth Estate claims to be releasing a story today at 6 pm that will blow the whole issue wide open. It will be interesting to see what they publish. If their story has any basis in fact, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake will have a lot of explaining to do.

Blake has come under heavy fire for condoning the violence, specifically stating in a Saturday press conference that, in the interests of assuring “free speech rights” the city had given “those who wished to destroy, space to do that as well.” Now she says her words were “twisted.”

Meanwhile, Governor Hogan has taken over emergency operations, walking the city late at night and supervising the curfew Rawlings-Blake declared would start Tuesday, the day after all the violence and looting. He covered for Blake’s gross incompetence at a press conference, where CNN’s Don Lemon grilled him — but not Blake — for not declaring a state of emergency and bringing in the National Guard sooner.

Of course that was all up to Blake, and she declined to ask for help until the city was already on fire, presumably having given the rioters all the “free speech” they needed, plus every other thing that wasn’t nailed down to boot. When Blake finally requested a state of emergency, “Within 30 seconds of receiving the call, I activated the National Guard,” Hogan said.

Yesterday, Martin Luther King’s niece, Dr. Alveda King, called for Blake’s resignation. Dr. King stated in a letter to the mayor:

Your invitation to “give space for those who want to destroy” is unbelievable. This interpretation of rights to free speech is dangerous ma’am. In 1963, my father Rev. A.D. King, after the firebombing of our home in Birmingham, Ala. urged hostile protestors to abandon violence and turn to God in prayer instead.

Thank God they listened to him, and the even greater voice of his brother, my Uncle Martin Luther King during those turbulent days. Now, you are inviting violence to your city? Who ma’am, will incur the moral and economic costs of picking up the pieces? The innocent taxpayers?

Thank you Dr. King. When are liberals ever going to be forced to face the consequences of their disastrous policies, ideologies, and decisions? I guarantee you they will have to be forced, because not one will ever admit their destructive actions voluntarily. Instead, Blake is arrogantly denying she ever encouraged the rioters. And gratitude for Larry Hogan? Perish the thought. She has barely spoken to him, content with hiding out among friends to avoid the embarrassing limelight while he cleans up her disastrous mess.