Tackled and ultimately choked to death by police, Eric Garner begged for air in his final moments. ‘I can’t breathe,’ the 43 year old man stopped by police for selling ‘loose’ untaxed cigarettes said repeatedly in his last words while alive.
The slogan was used on the streets by massive protests in New York following the grand jury decision not to indict NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo for his death, ruled a homicide by a coroner.
Ultimately, the rather clear case of excessive force and abuse of power by police – who were after Garner on a tax matter – will be mixed up in the larger national wave of increasingly racially divided politics.
The controversial decision comes only a week after the grand jury decision in the Michael Brown case, which led to riots, outrage and a media storm in Ferguson and beyond. However, the Brown case was much less clear cut, while video makes clear that Eric Garner was a victim who didn’t not deserve death. He did not resist arrest, and his alleged crime was too petty to cost him his life:
This post was published at shtfplan on December 4th, 2014.
Follow on Twitter
Recent Comments