Eric Garner Case

On July 17th, 2014, Eric Garner died in Stanton Island, New York after New York City police officer, Daniel Pantaleo, administered an illegal chokehold on him. Eric Garner was well known by the NYPD for selling untaxed cigarettes not far from the very place where the deadly incident occurred. On the day of his death, NYPD officers approached Garner on suspicion of selling “loose cigarettes”. Tired of constantly being harassed by the police, Garner refused to cooperate stating that he was not participating in a criminal act. In a video taken by Garner’s friend you can hear him say “Every time you see me you want to arrest me, I’m tired of this, this stops today, I didn’t do nothing, I’m minding my business, officer” (Calabresi, 2014). The officers …show more content…
Prosecutors presented evidence to a grand jury, which stated that Pantaleo used a chokehold that is banned by NYPD regulations and that Garner’s civil rights were violated by Pantaleo intentional use of excessive police force (Marzulli, 2016). Pantaleo’s defense lawyer brought up Garner’s previous criminal history in an effort to discredit the prosecutions accusations insinuated that Garner was a “very bad” man. On December 3rd, 2014, the Richmond County grand jury decided not to indict Pantaleo, although he was kicked off the police force. The grand jury’s decision led to protest and rallies all over the world, and wedged a bigger divide in the relationship of police officers and the African American …show more content…
Pantaleo administered excessive force on Garner even though cellphone footage showed that Garner was on the ground and had stopped resisting. I would also like to point out that Garner was not armed. As I have previously mentioned, statistics support the notion that excessive force is used inexplicably against African Americans. This bares the question; if Eric Garner were a white male, would he still be alive today? One of the main reasons why police officers feel as though they can use excessive force and get away with it is because of the lack of accountability. Law enforcement agencies either cover the act up, or pay off the families of the victims (what they did in this case) in hopes of preventing a trial. I also feel as though there was enough evidence to prosecute Pantaleo. He blatantly performed an act that his police department deemed illegal, medical examiners ruled Garner’s death as a homicide, and it was all caught on