In the Media

We must hold police departments to account, even if the Trump administration fails to do so

12/20/2019
CNN

(CNN) Of all the ways the Trump administration has tried to roll back Obama-era initiatives, abandoning efforts to address police brutality, bias and misconduct may be one of the most devastating.

After protests broke out across the country following the police killings of Eric Garner in New York and Michael Brown in Missouri in 2014, the Department of Justice (DOJ) under former President Barack Obama began to ramp up its efforts to combat unconstitutional policing.

Where Eric Garner died, changes in NYPD policing win little applause

08/22/2019
AP

NEW YORK (AP) — A police cruiser constantly sits a few feet from a small floral memorial to Eric Garner on the Staten Island sidewalk where he spent his dying moments five years ago.

Tompkinsville Park, which police were targeting for patrols when they encountered Garner selling loose, untaxed cigarettes, remains a gathering place for desperate people.

Expletives flew on a recent hot afternoon as park regulars discussed everything from drugs and mental illness to jail conditions and the bail paid so they could sit on a park bench.

Reform advocates, family members of men and women killed by police demand firing of NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo for 2014 death of Eric Garner

08/14/2019
New York Daily News

A coalition of police reform advocates is demanding the NYPD fire Officer Daniel Pantaleo for the chokehold death of Eric Garner, and that it discipline all the officers involved in the case.

In a Wednesday letter to Mayor de Blasio and Police Commissioner James O’Neill, more than 60 community groups and family members of people killed by police blasted the mayor for “years-long unnecessary delays and obstruction” following Garner’s 2014 death on Staten Island.

'We are fighting for justice': Protesters call for firing of NYPD officers at 'We are Eric Garner' rally

Video still of Gwen Carr addressing crowd at youth-led action on fifth anniversary of her son Eric Garner's killing
07/17/2019
USA Today

NEW YORK – Hundreds of youth organizers carrying coffins and posters marched Wednesday at Foley Park, calling for Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York Police Department to fire all officers involved in the chaotic arrest and death of Eric Garner.

The "We are Eric Garner" rally, held on the five-year anniversary of Garner's death, followed Tuesday’s decision by the Department of Justice to not pursue civil rights charges against NYPD officer David Pantaleo, who put the 43-year-old black man in a chokehold.

Stop telling us we didn’t see what we saw. A cop choked Eric Garner to death. The District Attorney wouldn’t prosecute him. The Justice Department turned its back. Now the mayor must step up and fire him.

07/16/2019
New York Daily News

The next time Mayor de Blasio jets off to Keokuk, Iowa or Orangeburg, South Carolina, or wherever he goes to try to sell people on the crazy notion that he can be President of the United States, there should be a large screen with video of Eric Garner telling voters that he can’t breathe.

Police officer in ‘I can’t breathe’ death won’t be charged

Gwen Carr, mother of chokehold victim Eric Garner, left, speaks outside the U.S. Attorney’s office, in the Brooklyn borough of New York, as Garner’s widow Esaw Snipes listens at right, Tuesday, July 16, 2019.
07/16/2019
AP

NEW YORK — After years of silence, federal prosecutors said Tuesday that they won’t bring criminal charges against a white New York City police officer in the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner, a black man whose dying words — “I can’t breathe” — became a national rallying cry against police brutality.

The decision to end a yearslong civil rights investigation without charges was made by Attorney General William Barr and was announced the day before the five-year anniversary of the deadly Staten Island encounter, just as the statute of limitations was set to expire.

Chokeholds and Police Abuse, Kept From the Public

There’s still time for New York legislators to repeal the law that keeps police records secret.
Gwen Carr, Eric Garner’s mother, outside One Police Plaza last week.CreditKarsten Moran for The New York Times
06/12/2019
New York Times

An administrative judge will decide soon whether New York Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo should be fired for using a prohibited chokehold that led to the death of Eric Garner and waves of protestover police brutality five years ago.

Whatever her decision, the public may never know about it.

Advocates, Pols Demand Cops Follow Right to Know Act

Law requires NYPD officers to ID themselves and explain right to refuse a search
04/30/2019
Gay City News

Advocates and elected officials who say police officers are disobeying and at times even mocking a police accountability measure implemented last year rallied at City Hall April 29 to demand action minutes before lawmakers grilled NYPD officials about that law during an oversight hearing.

Pages