Posted on 12/06/2014 11:04:43 AM PST by SeekAndFind
The white New York police officer who choke-held unarmed Eric Garner leading to his death had earlier been sued thrice for alleged misconduct. A UN Special Rapporteur has expressed concern over a "pattern of impunity," citing two grand juries' failure to indict officers involved in the deaths of two black civilians.
Last year, Darren Collins and Tommy Rice alleged in a federal court lawsuit that the officer, Daniel Pantaleo, and four other officers humiliated and unlawfully strip-searched them publicly after handcuffing them during their arrest on Staten Island the previous year, Detroit Free Press reports.
The cops, who were searching for illegal drugs, "pulled down the plaintiffs' pants and underwear, and touched and searched their genital areas, or stood by while this was done in their presence," the lawsuit alleged.
Charges against Collins and Rice were later dismissed and sealed.
In another case, Rylawn Walker alleged that Pantaleo, along with other cops, falsely arrested him on Staten Island for alleged marijuana possession two years ago even though he was not acting in a suspicious manner.
The case against the officer is pending, while the marijuana charges against Walker were dismissed and sealed.
Similarly, Kenneth Collins, of Staten Island, alleged in a lawsuit that Pantaleo and other police officers subjected him to "a degrading search of his private parts and genitals by the defendants" in February 2012.
The marijuana charges against Collins were dismissed and sealed the day after his arrest.
A nearly 3-minute video of the encounter between Garner and New York police officers posted on YouTube, shows Eric Garner screaming "I can't breathe, I can't breathe," repeatedly before falling silent as cops swarmed him when he refused to be handcuffed after expressing surprise that the officers were harassing him for trying to break up a fight.
However, the grand jury decided Wednesday not to indict Pantaleo. The decision came after months of testimonies were heard.
Less than two weeks earlier, a grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri, declined to bring charges against a white officer who fatally shot unarmed black teenager Michael Brown.
"I am concerned by the grand juries' decisions and the apparent conflicting evidence that exists relating to both incidents," UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Rita Izsak, said in a statement, adding that a trial process would ensure the evidence is considered in detail, according to BBC.
"The decisions leave many with legitimate concerns relating to a pattern of impunity when the victims of excessive use of force come from African-American or other minority communities," she went on to say.
There's a "longstanding prevalence of racial discrimination faced by African-Americans, particularly in relation to access to justice and discriminatory police practices," added Human rights expert Mireille Fanon-Mendes-France, head of the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent.
Meanwhile, protests continued Friday across the country.
Marches were held in Miami, Washington, D.C., Boston, New York, Chicago, Cleveland and Jacksonville, Florida, according to CNN.
Police stood nearby as the peaceful protests made their way down each thoroughfare.
In New York, protesters gave a list of demands – which included all officers involved to be fired, for a special prosecutor to be appointed to investigate all complaints of excessive force and for the state Legislature to make a chokehold punishable by significant penalties – to the media.
Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, earlier said he was "stunned" by the grand jury's decision and called on Christian churches to take a stand against injustice.
"I'm stunned speechless by this news. We hear a lot about the rule of law — and rightly so. But a government that can choke a man to death on video for selling cigarettes is not a government living up to a biblical definition of justice or any recognizable definition of justice. We may not agree in this country on every particular case and situation, but it's high time we start listening to our African-American brothers and sisters in this country when they tell us they are experiencing a problem," Moore said in a statement Wednesday.
BLACK FEMALE Police Sergeant Supervised Eric Garner’s Deadly Arrest
Sounds like this cop has a real problem with anything that smokes.
Maybe, but why would the author of this piece mention “other” officers if Pantaloeo was the primary target of the suit? Sounds to me like he was just one of the officers, not the the actual offender. But, it is important to the narrative to slant the story to make it appear so.
...
How does this compare to other officers that work the same area? It could be that getting sued is a common part of the job.
Try again CSM! There was no “chokehold,” and he was breathing, responsive, and told EMS he couldn’t breath. He left the scene in an ambulance less than 12 minutes from when he hit the ground. He expired in the ambulance while suffering cardiac arrest.
The author is also taking the story of the cameraman as gospel, about Garner breaking up a fight.
It was 4 cops, on patrol. The remaining people were EMS.
Your slander is uncalled for. The officer let ago within 3 seconds of Garner saying I can’t breath. EMS was on-scene within 3 minutes.
Garner was a repeat offender who resisted arrest. He was morbidly obese and suffered severe asthma. He was responsive and talking when taking away by EMS. He expired in the ambulance while experiencing cardiac arrest.
RE: I should sue Anugrah Kumar (has the Christian Post outsourced its writing to India?) so he could learn that anyone can file a suit; establishing the facts a bit more difficult.
Anugrah Kumar is an American Citizen.
Do you really need 4 cops to arrest an out of shape, obese, unarmed man? The cop who put his arm around the perp’s neck did not let go even after the large man was wrestled violently to the ground with 3 or 4 others sitting on top of the large man.
I would think when the perp refused to be arrested, taser him which would render him unable to fight and then arrest him. There is no need to place a choke hold on any unarmed out of shape and obese man or woman after they are wrestled down to the ground. I hope there will be a civil suit and sue the living daylights out of the tax crazy city of NY.
The real perpetrator is mayor Bill de Blasio with his $6.xx tax on each pack of cigarettes. Where is the freedom for folks who are addicted to a lawful substance of tobacco but can not afford the tax? Next will be $1000 tax to apply for purchase of a firearm. The leftists are using IRS and taxing powers as a weapon against freedom loving Americans.
I sincerely hope the dead man’s family sues the living daylights out of tax crazy mayor Bill de Blasio and the city of NY due to this incident. Where is the freedom of tobacco users (a lawful substance) who can not afford nearly $7 tax on each pack of cigarettes?
What harm occurs to The State from domestic violence? None.
There's your answer.
A UN Special Rapporteur has expressed concern over a "pattern of impunity,"...I guess the UN dolt has never been to Burma, or almost any country in Africa, or most of the rest of the world's surface outside US borders.
Why focus on the one cop? There were, what 6 cops on the scene including NYPD Sergeant Kizzy Adoni, a Black female offered immunity. Why, she gave approval for the arrest and supervised the entire incident.
Did it look like the first cop - the little one - had a small Taser in his hand when he was poking Eric Garner in the chest?
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