On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner, a resident of Staten Island, was stopped on a street in New York on suspicion of selling untaxed cigarettes. The case came into the limelight when a video surfaced capturing the attempted arrest where the Police and Eric Garner were in a lenghty exchange of words and he sternly refused to be handcuffed.
A few officers tried to restrain Mr. Garner including Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo who restrained him by the neck. Mr. Garner who is asthmatic is seen shouting in the video, “I can’t breathe!”
The medical examiner ruled the death of Eric Garner as a homicide particularly in light of the fact that it is against police procedures to restrain any individual by choke hold. Although the autopsy revealed that asthma and obesity were probably contributory factors to his death.
The officer involved, Daniel Pantaleo has previously been accused of unlawful arrest as well violating police procedures in two previous lawsuits. A grand jury yesterday, decided not to charge him for a criminal offence.
The decision not to indict by the Grand Jury sparked protests especially in light of the fact that ten days ago, the grand jury in Ferguson decided not to indict the cop who killed unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown.
The difference between Staten Island and Ferguson is that there’s video evidence of what transpired and the medical examiner clearly considered the chokehold as a contributory factor in the death of Eric Garner.
The protests were serious enough to draw the attention of the President of the United States, Barrack Obama as he said in a broadcast, “When anybody in this country is not being treated equally under the law, that is a problem, and it’s my job as president to help solve it.”
The reality of the situation is that it’s starting to seem as though the law is not blind- indeed, to many African American communities, the law probably loves the white color! From Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown to Eric Garner, there’s a singular narrative from the judicial system; that an African American can be killed on suspicion of the flimsiest offence by any gun wielding white man.
The street protests in New York probably influenced the decision of the Attorney General, Eric Holder, to announce “an independent, thorough, fair and expeditious” investigation into potential civil rights violations in the case.”
According to him, the justice department would embark of a “complete review” of materials gathered in the local investigation. We earnestly await the report of the federal investigation.