A New York City grand jury decided not to indict a NYPD officer despite videotape that clearly shows Eric Garner, an African-American father of six about to be arrested for selling untaxed loose cigarettes, being strangled to death by the cops. Takeaway: symbolic changes like an African-American president won’t change the system itself.
But the President is a Black Man
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication, WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal, a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "The Stringer."
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I noticed that one thing about Eric Garner’s death that hasn’t been explored, at least not that I’ve seen. I hesitate to mention it because I have seen in my lifetime how genuine questions that involve race are automatically labeled racist by the extremists on either side so as to hijack the entire conversation. But here goes:
Eric Garner had been arrested 30 times, starting from the age of 10, mostly for what I can only describe as trivial nonsense. This isn’t someone who got picked up over and over because he was trespassing to protest animal experimentation or nuclear energy. Run through it in your mind. What POSSIBLE use is there in arresting someone over and over and over and over like that? It’s bad policy. Period.
At what point should someone, white, black, yellow, whatever, be told by the judge, “The next time you’re here for this? You’re going to real, adult jail.” The third time? The 10th? 28th?
Indeed, told by the judge NOT murdered by the police.
Perhaps, Alex, a still better solution than being told by a judge after being arrested for minor misdemeanors, like selling pre-taxed cigarettes from a pack, that one is going to «real, adult jail» would be to stop using those always insufficient police resources to harass people like the late Mr Garner, and instead devote them to the real criminals, of whom I presume there exists a plethora in New York ?…
Henri
Henri,
A system in which someone — ANYONE — can be arrested 30 times is defective. All the way through.
The judges are at fault because they are doing nothing to break the cycle of behavior.
The police officers are at fault because they’re wasting a huge amount of resources. “Solve murders and burglaries and rapes? Holy Hell, we’re busy trying to break the loosie racket!”
Eric Garner was at fault too. Being at fault does not mean that he deserved to be strangled to death and given no medical treatment until it was too late. But I stick to the initial point: How many times do you have to get arrested before you realize that the cops are not going to lay off you? Certainly not 30 times.
Why did no one in his circle of friends or family take him aside? Because everyone: judges, cops, civilians, considered the arrests as somehow not serious.
And if you want a signpost for knowing your civilization is heading toward a massive upheaval, look for the one that says, “People don’t take the law seriously.”
Perhaps, Alex, as I suggested above, the failure lies in the so-called «no-tolerance policies» that saw this man arrested time and time again for offenses which, as you yourself note, nobody considered «serious». Aside from the questionable in Mr Garner’s being hassled in this unconscionable fashion – here I suggest Matt Taibbi is spot on – think of the immense amount of taxpayer money being wasted in repeatedly hauling this guy before a judge ! But then again, perhaps the police on Staten Island have nothing better to do with their time….
Henri
When do we hold the police accountable for their actions? This was, after all, an illegal choke-hold — wasn’t it? 🙁
And therein lies the rub. Eric Garner hadn’t changed, He continued to commit his petty crime of taxlessly re-“selling” ALREADY TAXED (once again) from the pack, cigarettes. What changed was the brand of psycho the city had been hiring as law enforcers. Apparently, the (new?) people in charge of deciding what quality, character, AND TRAINING of jackboot they were employing on the public dime was going to start confronting all them “shiftless Niggers” who were stealing from the public larder, even if it was (probably much) less than five-dollars of alleged tax cash a day.
And G)d, he took out a biggun’ too, didn’t he? I’ll bet you that Officer (Kill-em and let the Lord find his own) Daniel Pantaleo has a life-like copy of Garner’s head now mounted on his basement wall … just another trophy to be proud of. His next target? Django ~
DanD
If the NYPD is so effin’ concerned about lost tax revenue perhaps it should strangle Goldman-Sachs, Citigroup, AIG, the hedge fund managers and all the other Wall Street predators.