let’s all remember that Eric Garner was being arrested on suspicion of sale of untaxed cigarettes and the person that murdered him is named Daniel Pantaleo
remember that name and remember the fact that Daniel Panteleo was the subject of two civil lawsuits last year where he was accused of falsely arresting and abusing people
A New York City man who was at most guilty of selling loose cigarettes on the street was tackled and placed in a chokehold by a police officer in late August. The man, Eric Garner, protested that he couldn’t breathe, but the officer with his arm around Garner’s didn’t let up. Today, a grand jury announced that it would not indict the officer, Daniel Pantaleo.
I’ll leave it to the legal analysts to rehash the evidence presented to the Pantaleo grand jury. Hopefully there will be a transparent accounting of what was introduced. But the fact that two grand juries in fairly rapid succession have failed to indict police officers involved in highly questionable deaths of unarmed black men should give us all pause. In Panaleo’s case, the grand jury’s refusal to indict him despite his use of dangerous and violent tactics doesn’t pass the smell test. Add in historic patterns of NYPD abuse against black men in New York—Amadou Diallo, Abner Loiuma, stop and frisk generally—and the lack of an indictment downright stinks.
The failure to indict the officers who killed both Eric Garner and Michael Brown deprives their communities of the transparency and accountability that trials ensure. No one is saying that the officers should be tried if there’s not sufficient evidence, but many legal analysts have agreed there’s enough in both cases to at least warrant a trial. There are questions about facts in terms of both Michael Brown and Eric Garner’s movements before their death, questions of fact that should be debated in a court. There are questions about the officers’ states of mind—questions that could be fleshed out and better understood if the cases went to trial.
But the lack of indictments, now twice in a row, seems to add insult to injury—that not only are black men routinely, disproportionately victimized by the police but they are victimized by a legal system that refuses to hold the police accountable.
First Mike Brown, Then Eric Garner: Prosecutors Can’t Be Trusted to Try Cops (via kenyatta)
“Not only are black men routinely, disproportionately victimized by the police but they are victimized by a legal system that refuses to hold the police accountable.” I want to emphasize that sentence of the piece, because it is not conjecture; it is reporting.
Statistics consistently show a consistent racial bias in the American justice system. Black offenders are more likely to be arrested than white, more likely to be jailed, and on average receive longer prison sentences then white offenders convicted of the same crime. And black men who are not attacking a police officer are far more likely to be killed by police than white men who aren’t attacking a police officer.
There is just no question that systemic racism shapes the American legal system.
Protest Checklist
1. Layer. Where leggings or tights under jeans. not leggings under leggings. and please don’t do tights it’s cold
2. Buy mittens and wear them over gloves. bring extra if you have extra for other protesters
3. Put shea butter on your lips (under lipstick/gloss if you wear it), on your feet, elbows, hands and place else that gets dry in cold weather. this will keep you comfortable for hours
4. Buy your boots half a size up and wear thick socks to stay warm and comfortable
5. if you own uggs or anything else comfortable wear those
6. write the name and number of a local contact that can bail you out of jail if you are arrested. put this number in permanent marker on your arm or something (it will come off in a few days with regular bathing)
7. if you’re claustrophobic stay close to the front or on the sides so you can step away to breathe when you need to. pay attention to where you are don’t get lost in the crowd
8. number 7 kinda applies to those not willing to be arrested. it’s easier to escape police on the sides. sometimes. I think. that’s the way I rationalize it
9. Wool stays warm when wet
10. if you’re a woman especially a Black woman please remember racist white men have no problem hitting you. none at all. team up with a man to protect you (this is not the time for ‘I don’t need a man to protect me’ and men especially Black men, women are willing to take a beating for you protect them)
11. if a white citizen hits you be ready with mace in you glove. be ready. but be careful police are likely to side with a white and cowardly whites carry guns
12. if you re Black DO NOT HIT POLICE EVEN IN SELF DEFENSE. if you’re a white MN nd you really tryna prove “not all white people” please hit the police to defend Black life. show don’t tell
13. bring extra water for yourself. trust me you will want it. maybe some extra for someo in the crowd
14. please don’t smoke around the group. that is so rude
15. speak your mind, hug a stranger, protect each other, voice you opinions
16. stay strong but a part of being strong is admitting that you need break so if you have to skip protest to be still and try to keep yourself together do so
17. I love you
