Summary Of The Actual Facts Of The Eric Garner Case

A viral video of Garner’s death, which was recorded by an onlooker, has spurred demonstrations about the manner in which the police treat African-American men.

Whether allowing Attorney General Eric Holder to dropped charges against the New Black Panther Party for intimidating voters at a Philadelphia polling place in 2009, to inflammatory comments made during the Trayvon Martin case and the Michael Brown shooting, Obama is always sure to let his true ideology shine through.

Four years ago Danroy “DJ” henry Jr. from Easton, Ma, was killed by a New york police officer. Since then the nation seen the death of trayvon Martin who was kiilled by a neighborhood watch volunteer and Michael brown who recently just got killed by a policeman in Ferguson, Missoury. However, the story of Eric Garner is shown to be an ongoing issue between Eric Garner and the New york police department weeks prior to the incident. In the video, Garner is seeing expressing to the policeman that he was tired of being harassed by the same policeman and he was not selling cigarettes. During the whole conversation more officers started to approach the scene and eventually as Garner was speaking the officers moved to arrest a much taller Eric Garner. After Garner resisted the arrest, officer daniel pantaleo approached garner and put him in what is an illegal chokehold and brought him to the ground. Four other officers restrained Garner in the sidewalk where he repeated “ I cant Breathe” 11 times to the police officers that was in the scene. After the incident the police department stated it was an unfortunate situation of man who had previous altercation with the police prior to july 17th 2014. After the incident medical examiners determine Garner’s cause of death was due to neck compression, and the compression of his chest and contributing health factors such as asthma and cardiovascular condition that correlates with his death. On December 3rd 2014 a grand jury decided not to

After this case found itself all over media, several other incidents of police violence followed suit. Eric Garner was another such case, in which a man was placed in a non-regulation chokehold by a New York police officer that ultimately took part in his death. Garner was apprehended for selling illegal cigarettes, and attempting to continue walking away when officers tried to stop him. This incident coined the protest phrase “I can’t breathe”, something that Garner said while in the chokehold. The media was eager to light the fire under

9 shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old who had scuffled with Ferguson officer Darren Wilson, came just a few weeks after Eric Garner — an unarmed black man accused of illegally selling cigarettes — died in a struggle with white New York City officers. Garner’s death was captured by an onlooker’s video. Brown’s was not, and word quickly spread that he had been shot while surrendering with his hands up — an assertion uncorroborated by state and federal investigations.

List at least 3 facts presented to support the YES position and include the page number where you found the fact: “officials involved in Garners death will likely face no legal consequences” (203) What is widely known is this: the police have the power to destroy and disrupt community, to haras individuals and entire groups of people without legal cause injure, maim and kill with impunity and little fear of recourse (204) “Eric Garner is dead because of public order policing. Murdered for standing while black and suspected of what? Selling loose cigarettes for

According to, my research Eric Garner was not a violent man, therefore I saw no evidence to support the U.S News’ defintion of a violent altercation. Eric Garner was a forty three year old, asthmatic African American male with a beautiful wife and six children including a three month old child who loved him dearly. Mr.Garner was under the suspicion of selling loose and untaxed cigarettes. Mr.Garner’s friend who was recording the whole incident stated “He just broke up a fight”.

Michael Brown’s death, whether or not it was justified, was not an isolated event. In December, Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy playing with a toy gun in the park, was shot by a police officer and died the next day. In July, Eric Garner, a black man, was placed in a fatal chokehold by a Staten Island police officer. Chokeholds are illegal for the NYPD. On December 3, the Staten Island grand jury case ended in a non-indictment of the police officer (Hawthorne). Some argue that these deaths were unfortunate side effects of an otherwise justice-driven police system, but others strongly believe that they are events akin to hate crimes.

In all the cases listed, they all had different encounters and the same results in the end. Eric Garner was a 43 year old african american, who had six children and three grandchildren. He was illegally selling untaxed cigarettes. There was definitely a valid reason for his arrest but not for him to be choked to death. The victim was not physically or verbally threatening the police officer, he was only trying to tell him that he did nothing wrong. The cop put him in a choke hold and eric garner was heard gasping “I can't breathe”. Sandra Bland was 28 when found dead. She was pulled over for a minor traffic violation. Sandra Bland had a blog discussing police

In the past year, the whole world has had its attention drawn to domestic conflicts between white police officers and black civilians. Since the invention of the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag in 2013, there have been over 50 million posts on Twitter alone under the hashtag. The recent incidents, largely prompted by the shootings of Mike Brown, Trayvon Martin, and the murder of Eric Garner by white officers, has brought both the topics of racism and the militarization of the police into public discourse. Arguably, however, it is the treatment of these cases in court, and the non-indictments of Darren Wilson and Daniel Pantaleo in their respective grand jury proceedings, that have ignited protests and riots from many across the nation who insist

Patrol officers spend numerous hours a day patrolling the streets; many of these hours are used executing the Stop and Frisk Policy. The Stop and Frisk Policy has caused a lot of controversy nationwide. Recently there have been many cases where the Stop and Frisk Policy has resulted in the death of an unarmed individual, typically an African American male. On July 17, 2014, Eric Gardner died while being arrested for selling individual cigarettes. The police used the Stop and Frisk Policy because they had reasonable suspicion. While police were arresting Garner an officer placed him in a choke hold, while three other man were attempting to take him down as well. The officer that had him in the choke hold ended his life. This incident was caught on camera and caused a lot of controversy because the officer that had him in the choke hold was found innocent by the grand jury (Mathias, 2014, p. 1). Although it has been proven that the Stop and Frisk Policy has prevented some crime, the communities’ reaction to it demonstrates that the policy creates a negative impact in communities where this policy is implemented. Many individuals feel that this policy is a violation of the Fourth Amendment right, is typically only used on minorities, and is very ineffective.

“I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!” These were the last words of Eric Garner, a middle-aged African American man. Garner died at the hands of multiple police officers who were trying to restrain him for selling cigarettes. These sorts of images are showcased on television way too often. To the point that some people feel helpless, they know that they alone do not have the power to overthrow the superiority of an officer. So they have really no choice but watch the tragedy unfold. Also fear that if they interfere, that they may be the next victim. “I am most struck by the behavior of the EMTs, who stood along with the police and did nothing as they watched Eric Garner die” (Williams 10). Although some people deny that police brutality is a problem, recent studies and events (such as the one listed above) prove that ultra-aggressive police officers, militarization of police agencies, and the effects of racism have increased police brutality.

Excessive force and police brutality have become common terms for anyone keeping up with today’s current events. In 2014, the media covered numerous cases of excessive force that resulted in the deaths of several people of color (Nelson & Staff, 2014). The most widely covered cases by the media in 2014 were of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black male shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri; and Eric Garner, a 43-year-old black male in Staten Island, New York who was put into a choke by police officer Daniel Pantaleo until he lost consciousness and stopped breathing (Nelson & Staff, 2014). These cases brought attention to the seriousness of police brutality and the curiosity of how often it occurs (Brown, 2015).

Black Lives Matter began as a social media hashtag that later transformed into a social movement after George Zimmerman’s acquittal in the killing of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year old black boy. The social media hashtag did not pick up until November 25, 2014 (Demby); the day police officer Darren Wilson was not indicted after shooting and killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year old black boy. Quickly after the decision was heard, “#blacklivesmatter” came to life via thousands of protestors. Unfortunately, this was not the last injustice to cause a Black Lives Matter protest. Shortly after, about a week and a half later, another grand jury decides to not indict another officer for the murder of Eric Garner. Eric Garner was put in a chokehold that eventually led to his death in NYC, even though the NYPD prohibits use of chokeholds. When the decision was made to not indict the officer, thousands of protestors took to the streets of NYC, Dallas, and several other major cities. The murders of Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and several others sparked similar, if not larger, protest across the country.

However, in more recent times, there has been numerous occasions where police officers have abused their power and exhibited behavior that are not consistent to what they were trained. These police officers have taken their power above their powers and in some people’s opinions, above the law. In a recent event, a man by the name of Eric Garner was placed in a chokehold by a New York police officer. A video was taken of the episode and it clearly shows Mr. Garner struggling to breath and screaming for his life. After several moments of constant, desperate cries for help, Eric Garner went completely limp.