Posted on 12/03/2014 7:28:43 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele on Wednesday criticized grand jury decisions to not indict white police officers in the deaths of black men in New York and Ferguson, Mo.
"They tell us, at least, a prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich. Well clearly a black man's life is not worth a ham sandwich when you put these stories together. And that is the frustration," Steele said on MSNBC.
Earlier in the day, a Staten Island grand jury declined to indict a New York police officer in the choking death of Eric Garner over the summer. Video captured by a bystander showed police holding down Garner, with one officer putting his arm around the asthmatic man's neck. "While the death of Eric Garner was tragic, all New Yorkers should respect the decision of the Staten Island grand jury not to indict NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo," Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) said.
"During this tense time in New York, it must be noted and remembered that no organization has done more to safeguard the lives of young African Americans in New York City than the NYPD," he added.
Steele agreed with King's remarks but said the newest case continued a narrative from another grand jury's decision last week not to indict a white police officer in the August shooting death of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black man, a decision that sparked protests across the country.
"I think this is part of the same narrative, it's the same linear story as far as I'm concerned," Steele said.
"We very much appreciate the protections and the role police play in our communities," Steele continued, but said clear boundaries have emerged over the past couple of years.
"The facts and the evidence all put into the proper context begs that this at least gets to a jury of the individual's peers so that we as a community can go through this process, begin the healing and begin to take, I guess, a more open look at our criminal justice system."
Daryl Parks, an attorney for Brown's family, said on MSNBC he was "dumbfounded" by the New York case, and suggested that the officer relying on "outdated protocol" indicated some level of "criminal activity."
"There's a violation of police policy," Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), a former prosecutor, said later on MSNBC in reference to the choke hold seen in the video.
Meeks pointed to a medical examiner's ruling that Garner's death was a homicide along with the choke hold tactic by police as reason to establish probable cause in the case.
"Hands up is symbolic for this all over America," Meeks said. "The choke hold — that killed him."
Meeks also suggest that evidence before the grand jury "should be opened up and not be secret."
I am sick of this race baiting stuff.
I remember when Michael Steele first came on board and how conservatives had great hope for this man, and now this traitorous snake has stabbed conservatives in the back.
How many pieces of silver did it take to buy you off, Judas goat?
Deal with God’s wrath, you traitor.
Not one of these race baiters were anywhere to be found. Killing crackers was just a "game" to them.
Heh!
Let the SOB try!
In a grand jury procedure it's the prosecutor's moral obligation to present all the facts.
Steele apparently wants an immoral prosecutor railroading ham sandwiches and white people.
Please, STFU Michael...
Yo, Mr. Steele. Shouldn’t ya be screaming a chant like this:
Hey! Hey! Jesse J! How many children killed today?(In Chicago)
not a conservative bone in his body, same for all the GOPE leaders
I think putz would be a far more appropriate term for the man of steele
Then go arrest the ham sandwich.
All Steele ever did was be a Party Animal
Not even people in MD know who Michael Steele is. He is irrelevant.
I hope Black Forest Ham isn’t to be considered a new racist term. Would asking for Bavarian Ham be a new “code” at the local butcher?
Any prosecutor can get a Grand Jury to indict a ham sandwich, or so the saying goes.
The problem was the Ferguson Grand Jury understood in order to indict the ham sandwich, there needed to be actual ham between the slices of bread and when they looked, there was no meat in in the Mike Brown sandwich, just a whole lot of hot air between two thin slices evidence that was toast.
Ah, yes....I well remember when Steele was The Great Black Hope of the GOP....
Steele was nothing there to see from the start; it just took some of us a few weeks to determine that.
maybe but schweinehund can mean almost any derogatory English expression you want it to:
IT HAS NO LITERAL TRANSLATION THAT MAKES SENSE. :)
Breitbart ran an excellent piece today that breaks down the facts.
- Garner was arrested 8 times for selling loose cigarettes, a law passed by Bloomingidiot
- Garner weighed over 400 lbs and had diabetes, sleep apnea, and heart disease
- The "chokehold" was not a chokehold - it was a submission hold that may have triggered Garner's pre-existing health conditions
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