PROTESTS have been held for a second night over the death of a black man held in an apparent chokehold by a white New York police officer. Thousands of people took to the streets in New York and other US cities, disrupting traffic and holding sit-ins. The mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, said the city’s 22,000-strong police force would be retrained in how to better communicate and remain calm when making arrests, and they will be fitted with body cameras. US President Barack Obama welcomed the mayor’s commitment to act, adding: “Too many Americans feel deep unfairness when it comes to the gap between our professed ideals and how laws are applied on a day to day basis,” as reported by the BBC online service.
Garner, 43, was stopped on a street in New York on 17 July on suspicion of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes. After a confrontation with police officer Daniel Pantaleo placed his arm round Garner’s neck. Garner, who had asthma, was wrestled to the ground and restrained by force. On video of the incident, he can be heard repeatedly saying “I can’t breathe”. He became unresponsive and later died. The city’s medical examiner’s office found in the summer that Garner’s death was caused by “the compression of his chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police”.
Yet in another incident a New York State police officer was suspended after a video was posted online capturing him allegedly slapping a young man he had pulled over. The driver did not want to have his car searched by the officer who had spotted a rifle on the back seat and so a standoff ensued during which time the cop became extremely agitated. The video was captured by the drivers’ friend who was sitting in the passenger seat of the car throughout the encounter.
The second encounter is indicative of the deep divisions which still segregate the races in the US — because the man in the second encounter was white, the officer was promptly suspended — but in the case of the death of Garner, the officer Pantaleo was shifted to a desk — he was neither suspended nor reprimanded, and as we have seen, found not guilty by a grand jury, even though a New York coroner ruled the death a homicide — a decision even former President Bush feels is not understandable.
The incident is the second in recent times in which excessive force by a white police officer killed a black suspect — in the case of Eric Garner, for selling cigarettes illegally.
Police in USA must rise above racial discrimination for the image and good relations among the races in America.
