My question with the entire process is what were the charges presented to the grand jury?
If it was conspiracy to commit murder then they made the correct call.
From another article, I read that it was the NYPD police commissioner himself who implemented a new policy in aggressively pursuing illicit sellers of loose cigarettes, ordered by Mayor Bloomberg’s strict anti-tobacco initiative. The very next day, Eric Garner was killed by police.
I hope that the fallout from this costs New York City more money than they’d ever have collected from tobacco sales revenue. What a bright idea that was!
Call me a cynic, but I’ll say I’m skeptical that this incident will change a single thing in NYC. They’re just too far gone to turn back now. The people who live there draw precisely the wrong conclusions about the source of who’s screwing them over, all to the benefit of their overlords they keep electing.
More laws and regulation means more cops. More cops means more of these tragic occurrences. More tragic occurrences mean more new outrage and emotionally-contrived civic laws. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Give it enough time and their city turns into a violent tax-encumbered police state. I say let the dumb bastards stew in their own juices and serve as a lesson to us all. All they can do is hope not to be the poor unfortunate bastard who attracts the attention of the civic morality enforcers known as the police. If they are, I sure hope they’re in prime physical condition.
By choice, I live near the wilderness on the far side of a remote part of a small town in one of America’s least populated and geographically largest states. It’s rare to encounter a law enforcement officer here, which is good because I believe there’s very scarce problematic situations where the presence of a law enforcement officer can actually help. It is absolutely lovely here.