#ICantBreathe

Image of chokehold of Garner

       “I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!” were the words asthmatic Eric Garner gasped out before his fatal death.

           The father of six children saw his last day on July 17th, 2014 after the use of the excessive and illegal “chokehold” move performed by the NYPD. Garner repeatedly expressed his inability to breathe, while the police officers continued to use unnecessary force to arrest him because they believed he was selling “loose” cigarettes.

On December 3rd, 2014, the grand jury decided not to indict the officer responsible for this event. This stirred the public, inducing protests and rallies throughout American cities.

         Are we really living in a fair, just, post-racial society? This event, along with many other similar events have raised this question as we think about where we are as a society. In previous cases, there has been conflicting evidence and testimony, however in this specific case, American citizens saw the event happen. We saw with our own eyes the violations that took place.
          Based on this incident, police have been abusing their power in arrests. Now, sometimes it is definitely necessary for police to use force, possibly even killing someone. But in this Garner case, no use of force was even necessary, especially not killing a man. 

         While the Justice Department has announced to launch a civil rights investigation, it seems that our society has not changed due to the jury’s indictment decision. This case has raised much uproar from peaceful protests to die-ins in every part of the country.

         These protests have been sparked from cases similar to this, specifically the Michael Brown case. No man, especially black, should have to be faced with fear of a cop killing them. We have seen this too many times for it to be okay. The clash between black men and white police has been an ongoing struggle. However, this was a classic case of violations of Garner’s rights.

The complications and use of excessive force goes far beyond just this instance. It is time for us, as a society, to move on from racial profiling and reassess our justice system for truly a fair trial.