Rand Paul: Officer involved in chokehold death shouldn't be a policeman

CNN ^ | updated 9:28 AM EST, Tue December 9, 2014 | Ashley Killough

[Zhang Fei]

Washington (CNN) -- The New York officer involved in the death of Eric Garner should no longer be on the police force, Sen. Rand Paul argued Monday.

The Kentucky Republican said Daniel Pantaleo lacked "discretion" when he placed Garner in a chokehold for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes.

[Jeff Chandler]

He’s applying pressure to the side of the neck rather than the windpipe.

He was not applying pressure to either the trachea or the artery. The trachea would have shown damage and the artery would have resulted in the subject blacking out, at least for a moment.

Not a choke hold.

[kenmcg]

“I stand with Rand on this one. This was totally different than the Ferguson affair which IMO was a righteous shooting.”

People who don’t know what they’re talking about should keep their opinion to themselves. You were not there, you were not on the grand jury and you are not privy to the autopsy report along with other evidence collected. We do know the dead man was close to 6’5 and weighed 300 lbs, was obese, diabetic, high bp and a bad ticker. He had been arrested close to 30 times before. The cops that put him in a headlock was a little guy 5’7. NYPD make over 1/4 million arrests (misdemeanor) yearly with very few problems. The store owners complained at a community police meeting to the black chief of police that Garner was injuring their business. The chief then ordered the cops along with a black female supervisor to go and arrest the man. Maybe we should look at the political structure that cause cigarettes go for $13.00 a pack in NYC with close to $8.00 collected in taxes.

[lonestar]

“Black-nosing”

[Moonman62]

True. Garner remained conscious until well after he was on the ground.

[Georgia Girl 2]

“People who don’t know what they’re talking about should keep their opinion to themselves.”

Does that go for you too or just those of us on the thread that disagree with you? :-)

[Resolute Conservative]

Right or wrong, libertarians have no place in government.

[Georgia Girl 2]

“And your point sucked to begin with.”

Thank you for your eloquent and informed dissent. :-)

[Zhang Fei]

We do know the dead man was close to 6’5 and weighed 300 lbs, was obese, diabetic, high bp and a bad ticker. He had been arrested close to 30 times before. The cops that put him in a headlock was a little guy 5’7. NYPD make over 1/4 million arrests (misdemeanor) yearly with very few problems. The store owners complained at a community police meeting to the black chief of police that Garner was injuring their business. The chief then ordered the cops along with a black female supervisor to go and arrest the man.

400 lbs. People think of fat people as weak. Wrong. Fat people are strong. And a 400 lb guy is extremely strong.

[thefactor]

Lady, I am more informed on this specific instance than you can possibly imagine. You’re just not worth the keystrokes.

[Moonman62]

They don’t care. In their minds, cops aren’t allowed to use physical force to effect an arrest.

...

To some people, like libertarians and anarchists, the police shouldn’t be allowed to exist.

[HMS Surprise]

Cops are professionals, Garner is not. The onus is always on the professional. As an example, truck drivers operate under a different standard than the general public. The question for them is not who is fault, but was it AVOIDABLE. Garner was at fault, but his death was avoidable.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

So, the officer should not have followed the instructions of his supervisor?

[kenmcg]

“Does that go for you too or just those of us on the thread that disagree with you? :-)”

Read my post I did not give an opinion on the cop just presented what was widely known as facts.

[flaglady47]

Rand Paul is Ron Paul in camouflage.

[EDINVA]

The skinny RevAl looks like a freak. At least the fat RevAl looked like a humanoid.

[Uncle Miltie]

"Per ‘official’ reports and experts, it was not a chokehold."

[driftless2]

It seems that many people on this forum in favor of Garner are objecting more from the idea that he was just selling something that shouldn't have been taxed more than he was wrongfully killed by the police.

The fact is he was committing an arrestable offense of which he had been arrested a number of times before. The police didn't pass the law, but they have to enforce it. Across the country I'm sure there's lots of laws that shouldn't exist.

But if I'm spitting on the sidewalk in front of a cop who says he's going to arrest me if I spit on the sidewalk, I'm not going to spit on the sidewalk. And I'm certainly not going to try and resist arrest. Especially if I'm morbidly obese with an assortment of health problems.

[A CA Guy]

What choke hold, how about not resisting arrest/

[HMS Surprise]

Nuremberg trials established that precise point.

[Moonman62]