Anyone else read this info in the headlines? "So a black officer ordered the crackdown, black business owners called for the arrest, a black officer ordered the arrest, and a black officer supervised the arrest itself. It's also worth noting that the 23-member grand jury which refused to indict the arresting officer included nine non-white members.". Additionally, "There were 228,000 misdemeanor arrests in New York City in 2013, the last year for which figures are available. All of them put together led to precisely zero deaths.....and the patrolman who wrestled Garner to the ground, Daniel Pantaleo, did it by the book, using a takedown maneuver every policeman is taught at the academy. He did not, in fact, use a chokehold, which is defined by the NYPD as "any pressure to the throat or windpipe, which may prevent or hinder breathing or reduce intake of air." Now Garner was clearly able to breathe, since that's the only way he could repeatedly say, "I can't breathe." The autopsy explicitly declares that there was no injury to Garner's windpipe or to his neck bones. This was a wrestler's headlock, not a chokehold. (As a sidenote, chokeholds, while contrary to police policy, are not in fact illegal in the state of New York when an officer uses one to restrain a resisting subject. They are not even illegal in New York City, at the insistence of the mayor Should they be illegal?
Looked like a chokehold to me. And if we are talking stop and frisk, there is a lot that is very wrong with that policy. Now I still think if Mr Garner would have just shut up, sucked it up and didn't resist he'd still be alive, but that doesn't mean what the police guy did wasn't overboard.
This should get more coverage. Now, this is nonsense. It just ain't true. The guy had asthma, just the excitement of being taken down and subdued could cause him breathing issues. There is no excuse for not taking him seriously when he says he can't breathe. There are 6 officers there, the guy wasn't going anywhere. They should have sat him up and let him breathe. They should't even be considered for misdemeanor crimes and non-violent offenders. For violent offenders resisting arrest, they may be needed to subdue a dangerous person.
Yes. I tend to agree that if someone says it, you should listen. But haven taken enough first aid, etc, I know that someone isn't choking if they can say "I'm choking". It's the total inability to speak which indicates that rescue is necessary. Garner said it 11 times. The autopsy said their was no damage to his windpipe or neckbones. Clearly, his ability to breathe was hampered but it doesn't seem enough to have caused his death. He also had a number of contributing health issues along with the asthma. And the pressure to his chest was evident. Completely agree. This and just leaving him laying there were contributing factors as well as inhumane. What is the primary difference between a chokehold and a wrestling hold?
I must disagree. There may be a difference between "choking" and not getting enough air to breathe. An asthmatic can be in respiratory difficulty without being choked at all. When someone says "I can't breathe", he is usually very serious about it. It happens a lot. It doesn't matter if some coroner says that his windpipe was not damaged. If a person can't get enough air, then he can't breath and he can ask for help. We really can't expect frightened people to say, "Although my windpipe is not damaged and and I'm not choking on something, I have asthma and I'm not getting enough air. Could you please stop laying on my chest and help me breathe?" What we say is "I can't breathe!"
Every black man in America should be required to have Chris Rock's How Not to Get Your Ass Kicked by the Police on their ipod and listen to it daily. There would be many less ass kickings and much fewer protests. Chris Rock ~ How Not To Get Your Ass Kicked By Th…:
