Eric Garner

“I Can’t Breathe”: Blacks & Whites Actually Breathe Different Air

December 6, 2014 Max Ehrenfreund, www.washingtonpost.com Educate! Eric Garner, health, NYPD, Racial Justice

There's a profound truth to one of the mottoes of protesters in New York who are upset about a grand jury's decision not to indict an officer in the death of Eric Garner on Staten Island this summer. "We can't breathe," they have been chanting. And in New York, as in most American cities, the air itself has been tainted by decades of disparity in public policy. We'll never know if Garner would have survived the altercation if he hadn't had asthma. We also don't know what caused the asthma, which he developed as a child. What we do know is that asthma is much more common among blacks than whites, and that air pollution is much worse in communities of color nationwide.

Another Grand Jury Injustice: No Indictment In Eric Garner Killing

December 4, 2014 J David Goodman and Al Baker, www.nytimes.com Educate! Eric Garner, Law, New York City (NYC), NYPD, police brutality

A Staten Island grand jury on Wednesday ended the criminal case against a white New York police officer whose chokehold on an unarmed black man led to the man’s death, a decision that drew condemnation from elected officials and touched off a wave of protests. The fatal encounter in July was captured on videos and seen around the world. But after viewing the footage and hearing from witnesses, including the officer who used the chokehold, the jurors deliberated for less than a day before deciding that there was not enough evidence to go forward with charges against the officer, Daniel Pantaleo, 29, in the death of the man, Eric Garner, 43. Officer Pantaleo, who has been on the force for eight years, appeared before the grand jury on Nov. 21, testifying that he did not intend to choke Mr. Garner, who was being arrested for allegedly selling loose cigarettes. He described the maneuver as a takedown move, adding that he never thought Mr. Garner was in mortal danger.

NYPD’s Long History Of Killing Unarmed Black Men

December 4, 2014 Christopher Mathias and Carly Schwartz, www.huffingtonpost.com Educate! Eric Garner, Ferguson, New York City (NYC), police brutality

Eric Garner was a 43-year-old father of six and grandfather of two. The tall, 400-pound man, who was known around his Staten Island neighborhood as a "gentle giant" nicknamed "Big E," was approached Thursday outside a New York City store by a group of NYPD officers who accused him of selling contraband cigarettes. “I didn’t do shit!” Garner can be seen telling cops in a video of the incident. “I was just minding my own business." It’s a familiar course of events. NYPD officers have a long history of killing unarmed individuals. They’re rarely punished for their actions. And the majority of their victims, like Garner, are black men. Earlier this week marked the 50th anniversary of the death of James Powell, a 15-year-old black student who was shot and killed by a white police officer outside a Harlem apartment building. Powell’s death sparked a series of riots across the country in what came to be known as the “long, hot summer.”

New York City Protests Eric Garner Decision

December 4, 2014 Hunter Stuart, www.huffingtonpost.com Resist! Civil Disobedience, Eric Garner, Ferguson, New York City (NYC), NYPD, police brutality

New York City residents took to the streets on Wednesday after a grand jury said it would not bring charges in the death of Eric Garner, a Staten Island man who died in July after a police officer placed him in a chokehold. Garner, 43, was being arrested for selling loose, untaxed cigarettes on July 17 when New York City Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo placed him in an illegal chokehold. The medical examiner ruled Garner's death a homicide, but the grand jury said Wednesday it would not indict Pantaleo. Demonstrators gathered across the city, from the Staten Island neighborhood where Garner died to high-traffic areas in midtown Manhattan. They assembled in Times Square, Union Square and Lincoln Center. They marched down Broadway and blocked traffic on the West Side Highway. Police scrambled to keep the crowd from disrupting the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center. Nearly three dozen demonstrators were reportedly arrested, though the protests remained largely non-violent.

NYPD Sent Investigators To Ferguson To Monitor ‘Professional Agitators’

December 1, 2014 Tom Hays, www.AP.org Educate! Eric Garner, Ferguson, NYPD, police brutality, Protests

The Garner video — along with a medical examiner's finding that the chokehold contributed to his death on the streets of Staten Island — should give a grand jury ample reason to indict, said Garner's mother, Gwen Carr. The NYPD sent detectives to Missouri to gather intelligence on "professional agitators" who frequent protests and to share strategies for quelling violence, said Police Commissioner William Bratton. Police also have kept in touch with community leaders on Staten Island to coordinate the response to the grand jury decision. The Garner case stems from a July 17 confrontation between Officer Daniel Pantaleo and other NYPD officers who stopped him on suspicion of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes. The video shot by an onlooker shows the 43-year-old Garner, who was black, telling the officers to leave him alone and refusing to be handcuffed.

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