Posted on 12/04/2014 5:10:23 AM PST by LeoMcNeil
A New York City Grand Jury has refused to indict police officer Danial Pantaleo for the choking death of Eric Garner. Garner was taken down by four police officers conducting a raid against illegal cigarette sellers, of which Garner was one. Garner had a history of selling illegal cigarettes, having been arrested for it a number of times in the past. Unlike the death of Michael Brown, this death was caught on video. The video clearly shows several things. It absolutely shows Garner saying he can’t breathe. It also shows a very large man who starts out the confrontation making a menacing move towards the police. There were 23 people on the Grand Jury, only 12 are needed to indict. The evidence obviously didn’t convince the jurors that the officer committed a criminal offense.
Once again the nations race baitors are crying about racist cops. Garner’s widow stood next to Al Sharpton yesterday decrying the white motherf***ers who she assumes comprised the Grand Jury. Protests ensued in Manhattan and elsewhere yesterday after the decision was announced. The Department of Justice is continuing its investigation, just like it is in the Michael Brown situation. The problem of course is there isn’t any evidence that any of these black men were targeted because they were black. Garner was approached by the police because he was selling illegal cigarettes, he had a history of it. Brown was confronted by police because he fit the description of someone who had just robbed a party store. Race played no factor in any of this, which is why the Department of Justice ultimately won’t bring a case against the police. Eric Holder may want to turn the law into a national discussion on race but he won’t do it unless he can win. These cases aren’t winners.
The real problem in the Garner case is the ridiculous laws that the police are made to enforce. Between Federal, state and city excise taxes and sales taxes the total tax on a single pack of cigarettes is over $7. The average pack of cigarettes in New York costs $14.50. It’s no wonder that people like Garner sell single cigarettes on the street. These people can make a fortune meeting the demands of cigarette smokers while buying smokes in bulk on Indian reservations or in low tax states like Kentucky. Garner is simply meeting the demands of the poor in New York who can’t afford to buy cigarettes due to all the taxes placed upon them. The police are then charged with enforcing these laws, with a priority placed on cigarettes because the state loses tax money when people don’t buy taxed packs of smokes. Thus instead of investigating actual crime in New York, police officers like Daniel Pantaleo are stuck enforcing the city’s revenue code with extreme force if necessary.
What is absolutely not the issue here is race. Race is rarely if ever a factor in deaths caused by police officers. According to the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice and the CDC in 2012 123 blacks were killed by police officers with a gun. In that year 326 whites were killed by the police with a gun. To listen to Sharpton and the media you would think blacks are routinely targeted by the police and killed. As it stands, nearly three times as many whites are killed by the police. Thankfully the numbers are relatively low overall. If anything, based on the crime rate in the black community it appears the police go out of their way not to shoot at blacks. Consider that in 2013 blacks were responsible for 5,375 murders (90%+ were of other black people) and whites were responsible for 4,396 murders. Considering that blacks were responsible for more murders and more crime per capita than whites, you would think their death rate at the hands of police would be substantially higher. If you were to listen to the media, you might think it’s in the thousands.
The police protect black neighborhoods just like they protect white neighborhoods. While the media likes to defend criminals like Michael Brown, they never seem to talk to the average member of a local black neighborhood who is glad the police are protecting them from crime. When police presence increases, crime tends to drop. For many people in crime infested neighborhoods, the cops are a welcome sight. Of course the media never speaks to blacks who will say this and when they do that person is either targeted by neighborhood thugs or is attacked without mercy as we’re seeing with Charles Barkley. If people want to protest New York’s draconian cigarette taxes, which are what ultimately led to Garner’s demise, I’ll be happy to join in. However, race played no role in Garner’s death. When it comes to deaths at the hands of the police, race is almost never a factor.
It was disgusting to see DeBlasio out there slamming police over his city’s police department enforcing his city’s idiotic laws.
Typical marxists. They’re never at fault for the result of their policies.
Garner kept SAYING he couldn’t breath.
If you’re saying, you’re breathing.
If anyone is to blame over this death, it is the Mayor. The buck stops with him. Can't blame the lowly minion for doing what he was trained to do.
That aggressive enforcement is aimed at the poor. A ticket for up to an oz of pot but arrest for selling cigs? Madness.
Just got back from another trip to Tortola BVI.
Pack of Marlboro Lights is only $1.75.
The real problem is creating laws and taxes on everything.
As a country, we are tying ourselves into a tighter and tighter knot.
The string is going to break soon.
It absolutely shows Garner saying he can’t breathe.
If he couldn’t breathe how could he do all that yelling? Am I missing something?
When someone says they can’t breathe that usually indicates that they’re having difficulty breathing.
That’s about right. The law is outrageous. The death of Garner is by all appearances an accidental tragedy, primarily for Mr. Garner and his family, but also for the police officers involved.
I thought Obama’s statement was just as bad last night. He was simply fanning the flames.
Bloomberg was the one who pushed through the most recent cigarette tax increase. The City alone charges $1.50 a pack. The state charges $4.35, the Feds $1.01. I understand New York also charges sales tax, which adds an additional 10%.
In a casual setting, sure. In an attempt to get out of the situation of being arrested? It’s potentially and reasonably an attempt to gain advantage.
Further, difficulty breathing is not the same as inability to breathe...at all.
He eventually stopped breathing, didn’t he?
It was not a “chokehold” and the perp did not die from choking.
Fox News just reported, as I read your comment, that he died from a combination of asphyxia, obesity and high blood pressure. Only one of the three had a sudden onset.
Well,he sure couldn’t say it after he stopped breathing. Which he did.
“Garner kept SAYING he couldn’t breath.
If you’re saying, you’re breathing.”
Thanks for the medical tip, Doc.
He “couldn’t breathe,” but he could certainly resist arrest.
Sorry, Garner completely brought this on himself.
If Garner was killed over cigarette taxes, what would be a proper punishment for Al ($4.5 million) Sharpton?
Fox omitted Garner’s severe asthma, which causes breathing problems all by itself, and can turn acute and lead to death with little warning.
If you are an obese, diabetic asthmatic with heart disease, going all MMA on some young cops is not a good idea for long term survival.
That's what I keep thinking. It's clear his health problems killed him, and those cops were doing their best to subdue him without deadly force.
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