One can not learn from the history of police brutality unless it is viewed as a continuing cycle that repeats itself in cities like Baltimore. In this interview, Renee Washington shares with us the brutal details of the death of her fiancee Joseph Wilbon while in police custody in Baltimore fifteen years ago.
There are parallels between the Wilbon case and the Freddie Gray case. Renee explains how the Baltimore Police, who had detained and then beat Joseph Wilbon to death, was listed as’John Doe’. Freddie Gray’s name was entered into the system under the name of “Grey” instead of “Freddie Gray.”
It raises the question, does law enforcement deliberately makes it challenging for the families of the victims of police violence to find out what really happened?
It has been reported that injured arrestees are dumped at the Baltimore Central Booking (City Jail) without any regard to the severity of their injuries. As Ms. Washington discusses how the Baltimore Police ignored the severe injuries of Joe Wilbon in 2000, we are forced to consider the similarity of Freddie Gray’s arrest and his limp body being poured into a van instead of an ambulance.
