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In July of 2014 a man named Eric Garner died after being put into a choke hold by officer Daniel Pantaleo. Garner was stopped for the suspicion of selling loose cigarettes. After months of investigation, the grand jury decided not to indict officer Pantaleo. Many citizens of New York and from around the country are outraged by the jury's decision because of the numerous amounts of evidence. A cell phone captured video of the whole conflict and you can hear Garner repeatedly say, "I can't breathe." Also, NYPD says that officers are not allowed to use choke holds, proving the officer had done something wrong. Adding on to the evidence, a medical examiner had ruled Eric's death a homicide. Many people are upset because they feel like this is discrimination, being that we also just recently had outrage over the Michael brown case. What do you guys think? Is there still inequality in our society that is becoming more prevalent? Or do you feel it was right to not indict the officer?
What made the officer choke Eric Garner? By your summary of the crime it seems like the officer is wrong, but Eric Garner must have tried to fight the officer. I think that it is right not to indict the officer because he was using self defense. Another question I have is, does this feel like discrimination because a black man is killed by a white man? How would society react if a white man was killed by a black man?
ReplyDeleteI think that it can be dangerous to view things like police brutality objectively rather than subjectively - we must look at all the facts of the specific case before coming to a conclusion about police as a whole. However, in this case I believe the officer was at fault, because he used lethal force when it was not necessary. The subject of race also plays into this argument, though I believe it would be difficult to prove anything about the officer being racist.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to understand further details on why Eric Garner was placed in a choke hold, however, I don't think it was right to take it this far. This is definitely a clear example of police brutality, and it is extremely unfair that the police isn't receiving any punishment. Even if Garner was disobeying the police officer, it is cruel and unfair for the officer to put Garner's life at risk. All he should've done was calm Garner down and then put him under arrest, however, he took it to the next level and killed Garner even after Garner called out for mercy.
ReplyDeletePutting race aside, what the officer did was unethical. It is a complete abuse of power, and outside the limitations of what police officers can do. Adding race back into the picture, it doesn't look too good for the officer in terms of the question as to whether he was acting out of racist intent or not. Using such brutal force was completely unnecessary, especially since Garner was not posing as a threat or danger. We would need further information to truly determine whether the officer was racist or not.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe it was right to not indict the officer, especially considering he used a tactic that is not allowed by NYPD officers. The punishment for selling loose cigarettes is not death, and this officer should not have used the lethal force that he did, even though Garner had a "lengthy criminal record."
ReplyDeleteI think these "law enforcers" need to get their sh*t straight and stop killing people who "might" be doing something wrong. What happened to law, and procedure? What happened to arresting the person, interrogating them, having a trial, and THEN decide what should happen to the person? Who do they think they are to be treating citizens like this. Citizens who after a closer look, ended up being innocent. Something needs to be done about these corrupt, unfair, cops who are poisoning our society after taking an oath to do the complete opposite.
ReplyDeleteThe police officer's lack of training in the situation was deadly and should be punished. He should have known that he was putting Garner in physical danger rather than just doing his job when Garner repeatedly shouted "I can't breathe". These cases are all appalling and the fact that they are all coming out without any punishment to the officers is unfair and shows a clear abuse of power. I believe these problems will continue to appear until the proper consequences are given out. An officer's job is to prevent crimes, not commit them.
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