Erstwhile street entrepeneur Garner had been arrested 30 times, for crimes such as assault and theft. He was out on bail at the time of his death. He, like the LA purveyor of vintage entertainment media (CD’s!), Alton Sterling, was one of the curious fixtures of urban/ghetto street life, the sidewalk vulture, who hangs around outside of legitimate businesses, annoying customers, on the lookout for “action,” ie. opportunities for illegal enrichment. Do you think the bodega owner, trying to sell legal cigarettes, enjoyed having the hulking Garner greeting his customers as they came to his business? In a saner time, laws against loitering were appreciated as tools to control people up to no good.
Re post 42, I agree.
Glad you pointed that out. Garner and Sterling were both chronic career thugs.