Eric Garner Research Paper

Eric Garner was a 43 year old African American man who was also fatally injured by a law enforcement officer. A police officer in Staten Island, New York claimed Garner was selling illegal cigarettes, and then the officer placed Garner in an illegal choke hold. A bystander was able to record the event on his/her smartphone. Although the officer placed Garner in an illegal chokehold, the officer was not charged with any crimes. The officer was only put on modified duty, and his supervisor was stripped of her gun because of failure to supervise.

How would you feel if you were accused for something that you didn't even do? For instance, Emmett Till. He was a 14-year-old boy who was born on July 25, 1941 in Chicago, Illinois, United States. While he was visiting his family in Money, Mississippi, he was dreadfully murdered for “flirting” with a white woman while he was at the market buying gum. In this essay, we will discuss the tragic death of Emmett Till and the impact that he created.

“All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these, are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Deplorable, though, is the fact that people of color have systematically had their liberty violated unceasingly throughout our history. Fifty-two years ago, in his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, Martin Luther King, Jr. declared, “We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.” Uttered decades ago, these words should have no pertinence in today’s society; yet they still ring loud and reveal the same plight that people of color share today. The real argument, though, is that under the constitution, police have no legal right to rob people of color, or any people for that matter, of their civil liberties; however, people of color are continually targeted, and are treated with such an abysmal impertinence that it should no longer go unnoticed.

On an ordinary day, March 3rd 1991, Rodney Glen King became an icon of racial tension in the United States. Following a high-speed chase, King was severely beaten by the LA Police. These four policemen were accused of “charges of assault with a deadly weapon and excessive use of force by a police officer.” This resulted in a 3-month trial, after which the police officers were released. The jury was predominately white, suggesting the conception of racial inequality, which triggered riots all over LA. (1) This paper argues that racial discrimination in policing results in unwarranted treatment, incarceration, and death.

Excessive force and police brutality have become common terms for anyone keeping up with today’s current events. In 2014, the media covered numerous cases of excessive force that resulted in the deaths of several people of color (Nelson & Staff, 2014). The most widely covered cases by the media in 2014 were of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black male shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri; and Eric Garner, a 43-year-old black male in Staten Island, New York who was put into a choke by police officer Daniel Pantaleo until he lost consciousness and stopped breathing (Nelson & Staff, 2014). These cases brought attention to the seriousness of police brutality and the curiosity of how often it occurs (Brown, 2015).

On Saturday, Eric Garner’s mother spoke to the thousands of demonstrators who took the streets in protest to Garner’s unlawful death, she said, “Keep on doing it, but do it in peace.” Garner was a New York shop owner, known for illegally selling cigarettes. Daniel Pantelo, the officer responsible for locking Garner in the choke hold, responded to a 911 call about Garner illegally selling cigarettes once again. Officer Pantelo pulled Garner into a choke hold after refusing to talk with Pantelo and his colleagues. Garner pleaded,

In the past several years there has been a negative outlook on how the police force are completing the tasks they are given. In some cases police are using excessive brute force to subdue their “perpetrator.” Glover stated “The targeting of people of color by law and law enforcement is an American tradition.” (P.11). With everything going around today with police officers and how they treat the people of color in our society I can see how that can be said. That statement can be applied to cases such as like the one with Eric Garner, an African American male, who was put in a chokehold to be subdued but ultimately ended with his untimely death all “on the suspicion of selling a loose cigarette”(Thompson,2015). Another case where this can

The way peaceful black men get treated today is prevalent to King. In 1963 Dr Martin Luther King Jr, was arrested for protesting the treatment of blacks in Birmingham Alabama. In the “letter from Birmingham jail” he talks about his nonviolent protest steps, and the excessive force he received from Birmingham police officers,” you wouldn’t commend the policemen if you observe their ugly and inhumane treatment of Negros.” (2017). Similar to King, Eric Garner also experienced excessive force by police that also lead to protest from the community.

On July 17, 2014 there was an incident involving Eric Garner and the officers that ended in a tragedy. It all started when Eric was standing at different corners in different areas selling illegal cigarettes. The cops obviously had to put a stop to it, but didn’t ask him respectfully or treat him right. They simply threw him to the ground

Last year, I was browsing on YouTube. A title got my attention, so I clicked on the link. I started to watch the video. It was a dark skin man being forced by police officers until death. Eric Garner a dark skin man was on his 40s who was a victim of police officers mistakes or to be realistic it was training for them. Garner has suffered after the police officer tight grip his neck in order to restrict his breathing. Garner gave in at that moment but the police officer was remaining the force on him. Melanie Eversley states, “The refrain "I can't breathe," said by the asthmatic Garner to police at least 11 times as police held him to the ground and before he died, became a rallying cry for protesters who claim a pattern of misconduct by

“I can’t breathe!” cries 43-year-old Eric Garner eleven times as Staten Island police officer Daniel Pantaleo illegally chokeholds him to the ground on July 17, 2014. As a result of this violent police encounter, Eric Garner, when approached by officer Pantaleo nonviolently resisted to being detained or frisked for selling loose cigarettes, lost his life despite his desperate pleas for air. This entire ordeal, as captured on cellphone video by a nearby bystander, offered the nation a firsthand look into the inner workings of contemporary— albeit, problematic— policing strategies, theories of punishment and police resistance, as well as a citizens struggle for self-preservation. However, before examining this, it is crucial to grasp the social contract theory as presented by John Locke throughout Second Treatise of Government.

Segregation and Racism. Time and time again when we talk about these topics we go back to the early 1900s and late 1800s. During this time African Americans were treated with with the most othe most of disrespect. Lynchings would happen with the simplicity of an African American making an accidental mistake which is found offensive by communities yet is not considered law. We hear many saying that there is finally justice in today 's time, but is there really? What if hints of racial profiling and injustice are being dropped all the time yet we are naive to pick up? On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner, a 43 year-old, African American male was selling unlicensed cigarettes on the streets of Staten Island, New York City. Undercover NYPD officers approached Garner and confronted him while Garner denied and attempted resisted arrest as officers handcuffed him. Finally Daniel Pantaleo, one of the many officers, put Garner into a chokehold and took his life after he said he couldn’t breathe, 11 times. Months later the Supreme court let Pantaleo go free of charges. Although some argue that Garner shouldn’t have resisted arrest and his health conditions caused him to pass away, Garner’s death and trial is an injustice because Garner clearly begged for air and was being handled with excessive force; the problem of racial injustice could be solved through a re-trial without racial profiling for Garner and many others.

Eric Garner, at the age of 43, was a victim of the police brutality and militarization that is occurring in the United States.Garner was the victim of violence by New York Police officers and his death isn’t the only case that includes

It is the ability of an individual to be able to exert authority in a situation and have an influence on the outcome. An example of a group of people who implement their power are people who work for law enforcement, or police officers. A significant part of the Black Lives Matters movement focuses on the police brutality that blacks have been facing by police officers, who are usually white. In a recent case, Sandra Bland, a 28 year old black woman was found hanging in her jail cell in Waller County, Texas in July of 2015. A video of her arrest shows Sandra Bland being pulled over for failure to use a turn signal to indicate a lane change. The officer asks Bland to step out of her vehicle and when she refuses he opens the side door and threatens to use a taser on her. The officer then pins her down to the ground and slams her head into the ground. Bland’s autopsy results showed that there was severe bruising to her back as if someone had pressed their knees against it (Sanchez, 1). Unfortunately, there have been many situations just like Bland’s, where it is common police officers use their power to give unfair and cruel punishments towards people of

#FuckYourBreath and #DyingWhileBlack are the hashtags that spread across the internet shortly after the grand jury cleared the man who killed Eric Garner with a chokehold. “Only country where men and women are put on trials for their own murders” tweets India Renae with the hashtag #DyingWhileBlack. Quickly, a new hashtag began to trend nationally. #CrimingWhileWhite filled the captions on twitter and instagram accounts. Stories from not-so-law abiding citizens were called to share the stories of the crimes they committed along with the escape of punishment. “Got pulled over for a busted taillight once. My insurance card was expired, and I had a couple drinks at dinner. Let go.” tweeted Andy Paul, using the hashtag #CrimeWhileWhite. The purpose of the new hashtag? To Illustrate the racial discrimination in our criminal justice system. Today’s news and social media highly publicize the fatal encounters between black men and police. Whether it be the outrage of citizens rioting on the streets of Baltimore, Maryland after the homicide of Freddie Gray, or protesters holding up signs saying “We can’t breath” in response to the officer who refused to provide attention to the medical issues of Eric Garner, the media are covered with evidence of the racial discrimination in our society. We live in a world where people fear those who are hired to protect us because they are targeted by the pigment of their skin. Is it safe to say that our criminal justice system is racist or is