Thousands to march against NY chokehold death
By The Associated Press
This article was published August 23, 2014 at 10:21 a.m.
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NEW YORK — Thousands of marchers are expected to protest the death of an unarmed black man who was placed in a chokehold by a white New York police officer.
The march on Saturday is being led by the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network. It will begin at the street where 43-year-old Eric Garner was placed in the fatal chokehold and culminate with a rally at the office of Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan, who this week sent the case to a grand jury.
Sharpton has repeatedly called Garner's death — and the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown by police in Ferguson, Missouri — a "defining moment" for the very nature of policing. Members of both Garner's and Brown's family are expected to join the "We Will Not Go Back" march.
Garner, an asthmatic father of six, was unarmed when he was stopped by police on July 17 for allegedly selling loose cigarettes. In a confrontation captured on cell phone video, Garner, who is black, was placed in a chokehold — an illegal tactic — by a white officer and can be heard screaming "I can't breathe!" as he was forced to the ground.
He died a short time later. The city medical examiner ruled the death a homicide and two NYPD officers have been reassigned during the investigation.
Sharpton and other activists have demanded that Donovan bring criminal charges against the officers and have called for federal investigators to step in. But the Justice Department has signaled that it likely will wait for the local probe to conclude before making a decision.
Saturday's half-mile long route winds itself through a heavily-minority neighborhood, one of several in the nation's largest city where residents have said they feel unfairly targeted by police for suspicion of crime and enforcement of low-level offenses.
Comments on: Thousands to march against NY chokehold death
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Packman says... August 23, 2014 at 1:38 p.m.
Cop choked dude out, no doubt about it. Did autopsy say dude being 200 pounds overweight contributed to death? Dude shouldn't have eaten so many Big Macs and be breaking the law.
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FreeSpiritMan says... August 23, 2014 at 1:58 p.m.
packman ....... all against breaking law, except when it is the police. Same old MO for the pack. Chokeholds are illegal by NYC police. I broke the law (disturbing the peace) when I was 16 for entering into a hotel where an all girl Rainbow convention was being held and being on a floor that was off limit's to boys. Packman you thnik I should have been put into a chokehold for that?
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Packman says... August 23, 2014 at 4:33 p.m.
Hey FSM - Depending on the circumstances, your actions may have justified necessary force. Did you miss the part where I said it seemed the cop choked the guy? My points were mainly two: 1) An autopsy may show the guy's physical condition contributed to his death perhaps even to the point of being cause of death and 2) If you follow a cop's instructions you will generally not be harmed.
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RoyDaMercer says... August 23, 2014 at 6:21 p.m.
Just make sure Eric Holder gets involved; that will make things much better. I really wish Holder would go on over to Iraq to have meetings with ISIS. It would make our country a better place
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