Another black day in US history as justice system lets down African-Americans again WASHINGTON: I cant breath became the evocative new slogan of black oppression by mostly white law-enforcement in America after a Grand Jury rejected a criminal case against a white police officer whose chokehold of an unarmed African-American led to his death. Protestors poured into New York City streets on Wednesday night holding signs that read Black Lives Matter and chanting I Cant Breathe! bringing traffic to a standstill hours after the ruling, which came only days after another Grand Jury cleared another white cop of killing an unarmed black man in Ferguson, Missouri. I cant breathe! were the last words that Eric Garner, an obese and asthmatic 44-year black man gasped as officer Daniel Pantaleo applied a headlock, also called a chokehold, while arresting him for illegally selling cigarettes on a Staten Island street. Garner, who denied he was selling cigarettes — although he had been previously booked for the same offense — and complained of being tired of harassment by the police, died minutes later. Onlookers recorded the July 17 incident on their smartphones even as paramedics who arrived on the scene failed to revive him. Medical examiners concluded that Garner was killed by neck compression from the chokehold, along with compression of his chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police. The black man, who weighed more than 350lbs and was a grandfather at 44, had severe health issues including asthma, heart disease and hypertension, all of which were cited as contributory factors. But after examining the video footage and questioning witnesses, including the officer involved in the incident, jurors took less than a day to decide there was not enough evidence to press charges against Pantaleo, who was backed by the police union. Coming on the heels of the Darren Wilson-Michael Brown incident in Missouri and the killing of another unarmed 12-year old black kid in Cleveland, the latest cop-out by justice system ignited outrage among African-Americans and civil rights activists, including many white folks. President Barack Obama, the countrys first colored White House occupant on whose watch such incidents are imbued with irony and poignancy, had to step up to the plate again to soothe anger in a population that voted overwhelmingly for him and feels let down. This is an American problem. When anybody in this country is not being treated equally under the law, thats a problem. And its my job as President to help solve it, Obama said, rejecting the idea that it is a purely racial issue. In previous remarks, Obama has acknowledged that African-Americans have borne the brunt of hardball police tactics and there is a trust deficit between blacks and law enforcement. Amid growing anger and disquiet, including from many black and liberal US lawmakers, the federal Justice Department announced that it would open a civil rights inquiry into the incident, which essentially tosses the ball into the court of Vanita Gupta, the Indian-American attorney, who has been named to head the Justice Departments civil rights division. Gupta, in her previous avatar as a civil liberties lawyer and activist, has extensively chronicled militarization of U.S law enforcement and privatization of the prison system that oversees more incarceration than any other country in the world. More than 2 million people, including a disproportionately large percentage of blacks and other minorities are behind bars in what is now some activists regard as a police state underneath a democratic veneer. The chasm between the countrys black population and its white elites was underscored by a stupid, witless prank by a white couple who came behind a TV reporter airing a live shot of protests near Rockefeller center and imitated a chokehold in the background. Another white Republican lawmaker sparked outrage by blaming Garners health condition for his death even as black activists maintained that the chokehold used by the officer was illegal and banned by the New York police itself. On his part Officer Pantaleo insisted during testimony that the maneuver was taught at the police academy. Following the reprieve from the Grand Jury, Pantaleo offered apologies to Garners family saying he did not intend to kill him and he felt bad about his death. Hell, no, his widow Esaw Garner said. The time for remorse for the death of my husband was when he was yelling to breathe. timesofindia.indiatimes/world/us/Another-black-day-in-US-history-as-justice-system-lets-down-African-Americans-again/articleshow/45379376.cms
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 08:03:20 +0000
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