New York Grand Jury Decision Triggers Demonstrations
December 4, 2014
Attorney General Eric Holder announced today that the U.S. Department of Justice will launch a civil rights investigation into the death of Eric Garner. Garner, an African American man, died after being placed in an apparent chokehold by a white New York City police officer. The announcement came after a grand jury in New York City decided against charging the officer with murder or a related crime.
Garner was stopped on a street in the New York City borough of Staten Island on July 17 on suspicion of selling untaxed cigarettes. During a confrontation with police, he was wrestled to the ground and restrained by force. He later died. The entire incident was caught on tape, which shows the police officer using what appears to be chokehold, a maneuver that New York City police are barred from using. New York City’s medical examiner ruled earlier that Eric Garner’s death was, in fact, a homicide and that a chokehold contributed to it.
United States Attorney General Eric Holder has announced a federal investigation into the death of Eric Garner by a New York City police officer. (U.S. Department of Justice)
The grand jury’s decision not to indict the police officer triggered street protests last night in New York City, including a sit-in in Grand Central Station that disrupted the evening commute. Activists are calling for a march in Washington, D.C., next week. Yesterday’s protests came on the heel of race-related unrest last week in St. Louis and other U.S. cities after a grand jury decided against indicting another white police officer who had shot dead a young black man in Ferguson, Missouri. Making the announcement, Attorney General Holder stated that he is continuing a review of how to heal a “breakdown in trust” between police and minority communities.
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