Posted on 01/01/2015 12:43:54 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Eric Garner is buried in Rosedale Cemetery, a sweeping expanse of land in Linden, New Jersey, located just across the river from Manhattan.
His funeral was in July, after a white police officer choked him to death on Staten Island. Known around town as a peaceable soul, Garner had been accused of selling untaxed cigarettes. He had six children and a wife, but he did not have a weapon. He lived to the age of 43, and his last words were I cant breathe.
Despite a wealth of video evidence and a coroners report that labeled the incident a homicide, a Staten Island grand jury declined last week to indict the officer responsible for Garners death. Since then, of course, I cant breathe has become a national symbol of protest against police violence toward African-Americans, and a judicial system that seems to ignore it. Recently, basketball players like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant wore shirts bearing the phrase during their pregame warm-ups.
Garner has become an important metaphor, which can, but shouldnt, overshadow the fact that he was once a man. I paid a visit yesterday to Rosedale Cemetery. I didnt know Eric Garner, but I guess I wanted to make him less abstract. I went to the Rosedale office and received a map. A kind woman with a tattoo on her chest directed me to an area of the cemetery behind a large mausoleum called Elmlawn. Garners plot was labeled 8B-1.
I walked to Elmlawn but couldnt find the plot. The ground was soggy from several days of rain and snow. A small man in a maintenance cart pulled up beside me and asked if I needed help. I said I was looking for 8B-1.
The Staten Island man? he asked.
Yes, I said.
Very sad.
Eric Garner's grave, plot 8B-1 in Rosedale Cemetery, New Jersey.
He led me to an unmarked bit of ground. There was no tombstone or flowers, or anything else people use to memorialize the dead. There was only a muddy, 2-foot depression in the shape of a coffin. Since Garners burial, the ground had settled some, and the maintenance man said they havent been able to fill it in because of the weather. He apologized for the mess and asked how I knew Garner. I said I didnt know him at all.
I havent seen anyone visit since the funeral, he told me. Its hard.
We stood there silently for a minute. I noticed Garner is buried next to a Vietnam veteran who died in 1983. His last name was Szczepanowski.
I asked the maintenance man who tended to Garners grave, but he talked past me.
Look, he said. Hes alone. Its a big deal. He walked around the depression and shook his head. Maybe well be able to fill it in today. His voice sounded hopeful, but then he looked up at the sky. It was cloudy and seemed to promise more bad weather. He shook his head again. I dont know, he said. What can you do?
This work stoppage by police in NYC is a good thing. "Just following orders" is not an adequate defense. Starve the socialist beast and drive it out of the city.
He is not using “filler.” The person he talked to is about 19 and has a big new, vibrant red heart tattooed on her chest. I’ve seen her and believe me it leaps out at you. He failed at providing a reason for his noticing it in the first place.
Could be a state or local requirement though.
Could also be a requirement of the individual cemeteries; as I understand it, it isn’t required in NJ. When earth has settled so far so quickly after a burial, I suspect there is no concrete “vault”.
Heck the only thing his family cares about is big payday from NYC.
And the boat takes months to travel from China, through the Panama Canal, up to New Jersey. Shipping costs on a 500 pound Chinese rock must make up 95% of the cost, but that's how it's being done now. We can't even dig our own rocks out of the ground anymore.
That’s not accurate. Garner was selling singles, not assaulting somebody. Not fair to lump him in with everyone else.
Precisely.
Absolutely no one has read the article. That’s fine. It’s drek. Sentimental slop. Author wants to make Eric Garner less abstract.
Author never considers that family might not feel all that lovingly about a man who, among other things, threw his daughter and grandchild out of a moving car.
bkmk
But facts just mess up a biased story, don’tcha’ know?
I think the requirement for a concrete vault varies from cemetery to cemetery.
You can fill it in. The weather has been excellent.
The bodega owners were calling the police on him. I’m sure he was attracting low lives as well as undercutting the owners who actually work for a living.
A fitting end for a guy who chose not to follow the law.
City Police Officer assaulted
Williamson, WV
Last updated: December 31. 2014 7:01PM -
By Lil Felix - lfelix@civitasmedia.com
http://www.williamsondailynews.com/news/home_top-news/151068246/City-Police-Officer-assaulted
I wonder if he had to submit a certain number of words and needed some filler.
..........................................................
That thought struck me immediately too. What the he!! did that have to do with the story?
Homicide is not an indication of guilt or suspicion. It merely means a person killed another person. A grand jury determines if a true bill or no bill is issued.
Regarding the grave. . .who cares? Settling ground happens, and a marker will be placed (state law), and it takes time for markers to be made. . .especially when paid for by the taxpayer.
Justice was not served is your opinion. The grand jury disagrees.
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