1.
Despite the New York medical examiner ruling the death a homicide, a Staten Island grand jury today decided not to indict the police officer who used an illegal chokehold to kill Eric Garner this past July. The grand jury acquitted officer Daniel Pantaleo of any wrongdoing by reaching a “no bill” decision, despite the fact that the entire incident was caught on Pantaleo’s NYPD-issued body camera.
Twitter is currently alight with outrage, with “Eric Garner” the No. 1 trending topic in the United States. Many prominent voices have taken to social media with their anger, expressing their thoughts in the type of clear, incisive way that makes you wonder just how this decision could possibly have been made:
So much for body cameras #EricGarner
— Big Boi (@BigBoi) December 3, 2014
I can see it now, instead of toys for christmas, we start giving our black children full body armor.
— Roxane Gay (@rgay) December 3, 2014
Don't hold your fingers in the shape of an L, Mark. You're 7 and a cop might think you're a 25 year old with a gun.
— Roxane Gay (@rgay) December 3, 2014
Someone needs to tell the NYPD to be more like Dr. King.
— Ta-Nehisi Coates (@tanehisicoates) December 3, 2014
People need to stop being surprised by this. What reason was there to expect an indictment? I ask that with great seriousness.
— Ta-Nehisi Coates (@tanehisicoates) December 3, 2014
And this isn't the fault of police. Police act at the society's behest. Police don't need retraining. America needs retraining.
— Ta-Nehisi Coates (@tanehisicoates) December 3, 2014
Divorcing police from society is a way of not looking at how deep this goes. A belief in "black criminality" does not begin with NYPD.
— Ta-Nehisi Coates (@tanehisicoates) December 3, 2014
I don't need a presidential task force to tell me this is outrageous! #EricGarner
— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) December 3, 2014
#BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/wwYxtPv8za @MattBors
— David Johns (@MrDavidJohns) December 3, 2014
What jumps out in the recollection of these stories is how minor the alleged offenses that precipitated the killings were.
— Gene Demby (@GeeDee215) December 3, 2014
Oscar Grant was in a fight on a train. Eric Garner was thought to be selling loosies. Michael Brown was jaywalking.
— Gene Demby (@GeeDee215) December 3, 2014
You KNOW cops who shot Tamir Rice are somewhere breathing a sigh of relief. The video contradicts their statements but facts don't matter.
— Liz Dwyer (@losangelista) December 3, 2014
the good white cops drastically outnumber the bad ones. so get your boys in check or continue to get unfairly thought of as the enemy.
— Rembert Browne (@rembert) December 3, 2014
Because it's about the "confrontations" -- or in other words, black men demonstrating presence of mind in vicinity of white police.
— Rebecca Carroll (@rebel19) December 3, 2014
As a matter of record, is there anything — ANYTHING — that law enforcement can do to a black person that qualifies as a crime? #EricGarner
— jelani cobb (@jelani9) December 3, 2014
by not seeing one of them as a man RT @MeredithLClark: How do you watch that video, watch a man die at another man's hands, and not indict?
— Mychal Denzel Smith (@mychalsmith) December 3, 2014
This is a national problem. It requires national leadership. State and local governments have never led on civil rights. Action. Not words.
— Antonio French (@AntonioFrench) December 3, 2014
Let me guess, Eric Garner shouldn't have been selling illegal cigarettes if he didn't want to die?
— Clinton Yates (@clintonyates) December 3, 2014
I'm an idiot. I'm actually surprised. I thought a coroner ruling it a homicide & a video of the encounter would mean something. #ericgarner
— Elon James White (@elonjames) December 3, 2014
I'm ashamed. Mostly because I'm no longer shocked at things now-a-days. Nothing is shocking. #EricGarner
— Questlove Gomez (@questlove) December 3, 2014[via Twitter]
