Today, we are disgusted. And I don’t mean myself in particular, but America as a whole. On Dec. 3, through Facebook timelines, Instagram feeds, Twitter posts, and social media everywhere America has spoken. Officer Daniel Pantaleo, 29, was not indicted for his murder of Eric Garner.
Garner is the straw that broke the camels back, if you will. People are outraged everywhere and it’s not longer an issue of just “taking a stand.” It’s time to make real changes.
If you don’t know, Eric Garner, 43, was a black male in New York City that was initially breaking up a fight on the streets. All actions were caught on video by a by stander and when approached by police officers Garner quickly responded with, “get away… for what? Every time you see me, you want to mess with me. I’m tired of it. It stops today. Why would you…? Everyone standing here will tell you I didn’t do nothing. I did not sell nothing. Because every time you see me, you want to harass me. You want to stop me selling cigarettes. I’m minding my business, officer, I’m minding my business. Please just leave me alone. I told you the last time, please just leave me alone. Please, please, don’t touch me. Do not touch me…” and by this time in the video, Garner is in a chokehold by officer Daniel Pantaleo. Garners last words, “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.”
How chilling is that? Watching the video leaves not only a distaste in your mouth but a lingering itch for justice. Allegedly the police officers were approaching Garner about selling untaxed cigarettes and Pantaleo described his behavior as a “takedown move” and that he had never intended to choke him. The video proves otherwise and according to the NYPD chokeholds are strictly banned, and have been since 1993.
According to NYTimes.com, it only took the jurors less than a day to deliberate that there was not enough evidence to charge Pantaleo with the death of Garner.
Timing could not be worse for this matter, as America is still trying to heal and pick up the pieces of a broken “justice” system after learning that Darren Wilson, the officer who murdered unarmed Michael Brown will not be indicted in Ferguson, Mo.
Officer Pantaleo stated on Wednesday that he felt “very bad about the death of Mr. Garner.” However, for many across the country, feeling bad isn’t enough. Pantaleo had tried to apologize the Garners widow, Esaw Garner, but her response was less than sympathetic. “Hell, no. The time for remorse for the death of my husband was when he was yelling to breathe. He’s still feeding his kids,” she said, “and my husband is six feet under and I’m looking for a way to feed my kids now.”
People have been trying to emphasize the use of chest cameras for officers so all actions would be recorded at all times, but if Eric Garner’s situation is on camera and Pantaleo still walked with the claim that there wasn’t enough evidence. How could there not be enough evidence when the entire scenario was on camera from start to finish.
People are dealing with all these events in different ways, from silent protests, to violent protests, riots, and taking it to debates over the internet. Recently I came across a BuzzFeed article that had several screen shots of racist remarks regarding how deserving these two men were to die. And while it is almost agreed across the board that this is a race issue, it’s also an abuse of power issue. Not all cops are crooked, and not all cops are bad.
And that’s the sad part, is the people who join the police force that genuinely care for the community are being swept under the rug because now all these issues are being brought to light, almost instantly ruining the credibility for all cops. The consensus thought is, “well if they can get away with murder for something like that, then what else can they get away with?”
What needs to happen is that the police academy should reevaluate their training system and hire people who are critical thinkers, quick to make sound judgments, and are intelligent. If an officer can’t distinguish where his taser is and where is gun is (like the Oakland Oscar Grant case) or whether or not they should use a non-lethal or lethal method (like Michael Brown’s case), then maybe they shouldn’t be able to be a cop, point blank, period.
The injustices are on video, these things have always been said to happen, but no one really knew. And now that Garner’s video has been out for six months for the world to see, how is it that a jury still can’t literally see the evidence. The fact of the matter is, I am not black, and never will be. And because I am half white and half Asian, and a woman I have experienced both “white privilege” and racism like being called a “gook” by my white friends.
But my step dad was black, and I grew up in Oakland, a predominately black city where I have first hand seen racism against someone that I loved, a father figure. Someone who told me that his classmates used to call him “spear chucker” and “bongo lips” just because. And to know that some of my family, my stepsister in Virginia, or my nephews could be murdered for no reason and cops can just walk away doesn’t sit right with me, and I think several million other people in the country. We need a change, and we need to educate. It’s not just the idea that #blacklivesmatter, it’s that all lives matter!