Jack Cashill –  On Wednesday, April 29, Peter Hermann of the Washington Post published a well-sourced article, headlined, “Prisoner in van said Freddie Gray ‘was intentionally trying to injure himself.'”
Hermann based this story on an affidavit contained in an application for a search warrant that had been sealed by the court.  According to the document, written by a Baltimore police investigator, the unnamed prisoner, a 38-year-old man accused of violating a protective order, could hear Gray from his side of the van.  The man heard “banging against the walls” of the vehicle and believed that Gray “was intentionally trying to injure himself.”
The Post received the document under the condition that the person testifying not be named.  As Hermann reported, “[t]he person who provided it feared for the inmate’s safety.”  That fear was understandable.  Many people have a vested interest in preserving the illusion of Gray’s martyrdom at the hands of a cruel and/or callous police department.
If anything, the fact that the man in question was currently in prison increased the risk factor.
Under pressure from Politico and other sources, the Hermann article changed in the days to come, but in a perplexing way.  Now, a Google search for the headline “Prisoner in van said Freddie Gray ‘was intentionally trying to injure himself” leads to a Hermann article headlined “Prisoner in van heard ‘banging against walls.'”
The implication is that these two articles are the same with one minor “correction” – namely, that the prisoner was not the anonymous 38-year-old, but rather “22-year-old Donta Allen.”  (continue reading)