NYPD Chokehold Death: Eric Garner

[Jazzy]

A grand jury has declined to indict a New York City police officer who used an apparent chokehold on a man who died after the confrontation on Staten Island, CBS News has confirmed.

Eric Garner, a father of six, died in July after police officer Daniel Pantaleo attempted to arrest him for allegedly selling loose, untaxed cigarettes.

The grand jury began reviewing evidence in the case on Sept. 29.

Jonathon Moore, an attorney for the victim's family, said Wednesday he is "astonished by the decision."

In cellphone video of the Garner incident, Pantaleo is seen placing his arm around Garner's neck and then taking him to the ground after Garner refuses to be handcuffed.

Garner is heard saying repeatedly, "I can't breathe!" He died a short time later.

The New York City Medical Examiner's office ruled Garner's death a homicide, caused by the officer's apparent chokehold as well as chest and neck compressions and prone positioning "during physical restraint by police."

An independent forensic investigator hired by the Garner family also agreed with the medical examiner's findings.

The use of chokeholds is banned in the New York Police Department. In September, Commissioner Bill Bratton said in September that officers will get annual training on use of force tactics.

Garner's death was among a series of controversial fatal confrontations this year between police and young African-American males. The city has seen ongoing protests since a grand jury in St. Louis County, Mo. declined on Nov. 22 to indict Darren Wilson, a police officer accused of killing teen Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Mo.

New York police have been preparing for days for the possibility of widespread protests in reaction to the grand jury decision.

Thoughts?

 

[Webster]

A couple of thoughts: (1)Expect the usual griping & complaining from certain elements of society over just how cruel the cops are, (2)expect the Grand Jury process, once again, to get thrown under the bus for reasons of political expediency, and (3)Going by the initial video, I'm still wondering why it would take as many of New York's finest to arrest Eric Garner on the crime of selling untaxed cigarettes....I mean, given how low on the totem pole that crime is compared to other crimes, why would you need that many cops to arrest someone, even someone as big as Garner was, over something like that?

*adds deadpan* Then again, we are talking about the New York Police Department, whose long history of corruption, police malfeasance and idiocy make most other big-city department look downright honest by comparison...

 

[WHO IS SERAFIN]

I do not know much about this case so I am not making a opinion either way yet. But after watching the video can someone tell me why none of the cops who surrounded the man tried using a tazer first?

 

[Dee]

I do not know much about this case so I am not making a opinion either way yet. But after watching the video can someone tell me why none of the cops who surrounded the man tried using a tazer first?

Because they were given the go ahead to strangle the hell out of this man who obviously had health issues (sweating, very large man SAYING he couldn't breathe), and yet they didn't at least ease up on his neck.  Fuck that.  He was a threat!  He could have barreled twenty police men over and come at him like the THUUUUG he was!  

Seriously, though--overkill.  I'm glad they're calling this a homicide because that is what it is.  And over a pack of cigarettes?  Give me a break.  The shit these cops did was banned and they were well aware of it, yet they did it anyway.  It's not like they did something they were allowed to do and 'accidentally' killed a guy. You know why it was banned?  Read what it says on Eric Garner's hedge stone.  If you're urging black people to find a martyr, here you go. He didn't even lunge himself at them or try to grab their weapons. It's just bullshit that they're not doing anything about this clearly obvious excessive use of force, blatant racial profiling, and a very skewed idea of what "to protect and serve" means.  Sad.

 

[WHO IS SERAFIN]

I do not know much about this case so I am not making a opinion either way yet. But after watching the video can someone tell me why none of the cops who surrounded the man tried using a tazer first?

Because they were given the go ahead to strangle the hell out of this man who obviously had health issues (sweating, very large man SAYING he couldn't breathe), and yet they didn't at least ease up on his neck.  Fuck that.  He was a threat!  He could have barreled twenty police men over and come at him like the THUUUUG he was!  

Seriously, though--overkill.  I'm glad they're calling this a homicide because that is what it is.  And over a pack of cigarettes?  Give me a break.  The shit these cops did was banned and they were well aware of it, yet they did it anyway.  It's not like they did something they were allowed to do and 'accidentally' killed a guy. You know why it was banned?  Read what it says on Eric Garner's hedge stone.  If you're urging black people to find a martyr, here you go.  He didn't even lunge himself at them or try to grab their weapons.  It's just bullshit that they're not doing anything about this clearly obvious excessive use of force, blatant racial profiling, and a very skewed idea of what "to protect and serve" means.  Sad.

Looking at this more and reading about it I am leaning towards excessive use of force for a guy selling cigarettes. I do not think the cops intentions was to kill the guy but still want to know why no taser was used before trying to physically take him down.

 

[Dee]

If you watch the video, you can see how little time it takes to subdue him and how much of a fight he puts up, which really isn't any at all.  At least 5 cops pile on him, one practically crushes his head while the others take his arms behind his back (which, by the way, in a prone position like that with the weight of 5 people on you is difficult to roll out of despite how big you are).  He is taken down, quite simply, in less than a minute and yet they're still using excessive force on him by crushing his insides, which are already being crushed by the fat on his body (so hey, let's add more pressure to them--why not!)

My guess is that the reason a taser wasn't used is because they figured the shock wouldn't be enough to bring him down and wouldn't be "effective" enough.  Again, though, this is just an assumption that could be wrong.  Perhaps they felt they could take him down and keep him down with non-lethal force.  However, his death came as a result of this confrontation.  It was determined by the medical examiner who explained he died because of a force crushing his insides.  The cops got a little too rough with him and they didn't let up until it was too late, until well after he cried out several times that he couldn't breathe.  That wasn't a concern to them, quite obviously, or else they would've let up.

 

[WHO IS SERAFIN]

I am not sure what kind of charges these cops should have gotten but at minimum they should all be out of a job. You can here him struggling to breath as he is saying he can't breath.