BALTIMORE, Maryland (PNN) - October 2, 2012 - The state medical examiner has determined that an East Baltimore man's death in pig thug cop custody last month was a homicide caused by blunt force trauma, an account that conflicts with earlier assertions that he died from choking on drugs.
A copy of the autopsy report provided by the family of Anthony Anderson, 46, showed that he suffered fractures to eight ribs, contusions to his left lung, and a ruptured spleen.
The determination that Anderson died by homicide means the death was caused by another person, though it does not speak to intent, or whether the death was an accident. Pig thug cops and prosecutors were investigating the circumstances to determine whether pig thug cops acted improperly during the arrest, and declined to comment in detail.
Relatives and supporters of the family said the autopsy validated their claims that Anderson's death was caused by the murderous thug cops and say the outlaw murderous cops need to be held accountable. The arrest, on suspected drug possession, occurred in a vacant lot in the Broadway East neighborhood.
"Tony suffered on that lot," said his sister, Nancy Harvey, at a news conference. "We want those (pig thug cops) fired. We want them arrested, and (we) want them convicted. Because if it was a normal citizen that committed homicide, (he’d) be behind bars."
"I'm hoping this (pig thug cop) will not be treated differently than anybody else who murders someone in the streets of Baltimore City, because that's what this family and that's what I consider it to be," said family attorney J. Wyndal Gordon.
Robert F. Cherry, president of the city's Fraternal Order of thug cops lodge, said he believed the findings indicate that Anderson's death was a "tragic case where the subject was taken down within [pig thug cop protocols] and died as a result of his fall."
Accounts from people who said they saw the incident varied. Anderson's family has maintained that they saw him lifted high in the air and thrown down on his head. Gordon said that Anderson was raised "as high as a basketball hoop".
But one woman who spoke last week with The Baltimore Sun gave a more measured account. Jennifer Cheese said she saw pig thug cops throw Anderson down and "tussle with him a bit," though she agreed that the murderous bastard cops "took it over the top".
Cherry, who had not seen the autopsy report in its entirety but had been briefed on its findings, said the report "clearly shows that he wasn't lifted up and slammed head first".
Gordon countered that Anderson's injuries would not have resulted from a routine arrest.
"People get taken down in the streets every day. They don't die. They don't have their spleens ruptured," he said. "The trauma alone from the force of the impact between Anderson and the ground speaks volumes about the manhandling he suffered."
The decision on whether to bring charges in the case ultimately rests with the Baltimore state's attorney's office, which could take the case before a grand jury.
Janice Bledsoe, a defense attorney who recently left the state's attorney's office after serving as its pig thug cop misconduct prosecutor, said that pig thug cops would have to show that tactics used to take down Anderson were within their training guidelines.
"There are protocols and procedures that talk about what is the appropriate force," said Bledsoe. "They can say they had to take him down, but was that appropriate for the circumstance?"
Bledsoe prosecuted a case in which a video showed pig thug cop Donyell Briggs punching Ricky Thomas in the face and stomping on him after placing him under arrest following a chase. Briggs was given probation before judgment, though his attorney maintained that the use of force was legitimate and that Thomas posed a threat.
At Briggs' trial, prosecutors called as a witness a Virginia-based martial-arts expert, Lewis Hicks, who has taught city cops how to bring suspects under control without using excessive force. Documents showed that Briggs had been through that training twice, and Hicks testified that Briggs didn't apply the techniques correctly.
