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The April 19 death of Freddie Gray at the hands of Baltimore cops rocked the Maryland city and unfortunately uncovered yet another instance of police misconduct in America. On the morning of Gray’s funeral, police officials issued a warning that gang-related attacks against cops were to happen but it appears that it was all made up.

On April 27 when Gray was being laid to rest, the Baltimore Police Department distributed a newsletter warning of threats from the Black Guerilla Family and the Bloods and Crips street gangs. The folks over at

The folks over at Vice obtained emails circulated between Department of Homeland Security employees that seem to suggest that the claims were all made up — which supports the same

More from Vice:

One alleged threat derived from the media office of the Baltimore Police Department, which claimed that “members of various gangs including the Black Guerilla Family, Bloods, and Crips have entered into a partnership to ‘take out’ law enforcement officers.” Baltimore police issued a press release on April 27, the day of Freddie Gray’s funeral, and the story was widely reported in the media. The alert was also distributed to police officers nationwide.

But an email sent that day by a DHS employee who works in intelligence & analysis at the Maryland Fusion Center to DHS intelligence officer Earl Rose IV called into question the integrity of the Baltimore Police Department’s [BPD] threat information.

“The gist of this alert asserts that the BGF [Black Guerilla Family], the Bloods, and the Crips, have partnered to ‘take out’ law enforcement. The alert says this is a credible threat, but, I do not know if that ‘credible threat’ means that they actually have specific information or that the 3 groups involved have credibility in taking that kind of action against law enforcement, I would assert that it’s the latter,” wrote the fusion center employee named Brian. DHS redacted his surname.

Area media outlets followed up on the claims by contacting the local branch of the FBI, which also found the claims of a gang attack against officers to be unsupported.

What has yet to be determined is how Baltimore Police arrived at the decision to make such a wild claim. Shouldn’t be too hard to guess if you consider the demographics and the way people of color are often viewed by those in authority.

Photo: WJZ-13