Re: can only be faulted for the bad collar
Not even a bad collar. The collar itself was justified. But it does sound like the cops, who were aware of his long rap sheet which the media don't want to talk about, opted to give him a "rough ride" during one of his transfers.
Otherwise your points are spot on.
Also worth pointing out that Baltimore PD is, like Baltimore itself, about 67% black with a black police chief. So the usual racist claims about whites just not relating to the problems blacks have just won't fly.
Not sure if you're familiar with the area, but it is problematic in and of itself. The Inner Harbor, which is essentially where all the rioting has taken place, was a Democrat re-gentrification plan pushed by William Donald Schafer when he was mayor, again as governor, and continuing when he was comptroller. They did some block clearing in the slums and red light district. So you have about six square blocks of "tourist mecca" inside a bombed out zone of Baltimore. Think Brazil and their slums sitting right next to the rich palaces, only without quite the same income differentials.
It is worth noting Maryland has been a Democrat city since about 1967, and the state has been a Democrat state since 1968. There have been two nominally Republican governors in that whole time, always with state houses that could easily override their vetoes. Voters only put them in when the usual Dems push raising taxes too fast. So there can't be any legitimate complaining that neanderthal Republicans have been blocking their programs.
Gray's arrest record: http://www.snopes.com/politics/crime/freddiegray.asp
While Snopes tries to downplay his convictions, it admits the report is accurate.