Before the Brooklyn Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers faced off on
the basketball court Monday night, several players were already
scoring points with protesters outside the arena.
As they
warmed up for the game, Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron
James and Kyrie Irving were among the players wearing T-shirts that said
"I can't breathe" --
Eric Garner's last words, which have become a rallying cry for protesters after
last week's grand jury decision not to indict an officer in his death.
Outside
the Barclays Center, a large crowd of demonstrators swarmed the streets,
chanting "hands up, don't shoot" and "black lives matter." Continue...
The crowd
erupted in cheers after an organizer told them about the players' T-shirts.
The NBA players' show of support
for protesters comes a week after five players from the St. Louis
Rams walked onto the
field and raised their palms in the air, demonstrating the "hands up,
don't shoot" gesture that protesters have been using in demonstrations
over the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
Activists
have been threatening to disrupt the visit of the Duke and Duchess of
Cambridge, who are visiting New York and attending the Nets-Cavaliers game.
"They
need to know this is what America is. ... America is a system where those who
benefit from others neglect to see the underclass, the people who are
underprivileged, and that's why we're out here," said Jibri Nuriddin, a
protester from New York.
Demonstrations,
he said, aren't going to stop.
We're going to keep chanting and
keep marching," he told CNN from outside the arena. "Everyone's going
to know that this is an issue. We're not going to let this issue die."
Amanda
Jack, a public defender in New York, said she joined protests after seeing many
of her clients suffer at the hands of what she called a racist system.
"There
can't be any more business as usual when this kind of injustice continues. I
think this (basketball game) is one of the examples of consumerism and excess,
so it's time. Shut it down," she said. "We've got to address our
broken justice system."
Brooklyn
Borough President Eric Adams, a former New York police officer, said protesters
have a right to take a stand.
"There's
nothing more American than having the right to voice your concern," he
told CNN's "The Situation Room." "We want them to be
constructive and not destructive."
The New
York demonstration was one of a number of protests across the United States
Monday night, days after a grand jury in New York City decided not to indict a
police officer in Eric Garner's death and two weeks after a Missouri grand jury
decided not to indict former Officer Darren Wilson in Brown's killing.
In
Washington, demonstrators protesting police violence laid down in the street
several blocks from the White House on Monday, blocking rush hour traffic.
Protesters
chanted, "black lives matter" and "off the sidewalks, into the
streets."
One woman
held a sign that said, "Stop killing us."
The
demonstration blocked traffic at cross streets along Connecticut Avenue, a
major thoroughfare that connects the White House to upper northwest Washington.
Collette
Flanagan of Dallas told protesters her unarmed son was killed by police.
"Our
babies should be here in the prime of their lives," she said.
And
Berkeley, California, protestors temporarily shut down the I-80 freeway in both
directions Monday night.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio
praised police officers' handling of the protests.
"They've
respected people's right under the First Amendment to express their views.
They've kept the peace. They've kept order," he told reporters Monday.
"We had only a handful arrests the last two days, which is extraordinarily
impressive given all of the activity that's happening."
De Blasio
says he understands parents who are worried about what might happen if their
kids encounter police. The New York mayor says he's had to warn his own son
about that possibility.
"When
he was just becoming a teenager, you know, the conversation was a difficult one
and a complicated one, because you're trying to say to a young person who
obviously looks up to police, you know, be careful and be smart and respect the
police, but also recognize that there are these realities to be grappled with
-- and that's a tough conversation to have with a young man," he said.
De Blasio
is white. His son is biracial.
"This
is a national reality. It's not just a New York reality," de Blasio said.
"And that, unfortunately, is further evidence of how much more we all have
to learn from each other. ... The goal is to get to a day when no parent feels
they have to have that conversation."
A day after a heated standoff on
a freeway between protesters in Oakland, California, and the California Highway
Patrol, demonstrators in the area took to the streets again Monday.
CNN affiliate KTVU showed
throngs of protesters in the streets in Berkeley, California.
It was a
peaceful scene, KTVU reported. But violence erupted in earlier Berkeley
protests Monday.
Some protesters looted and
vandalized businesses, police spokeswoman Jennifer Coats said.
One
protester was struck in the head with a hammer when he tried to keep fellow
protesters from damaging and looting a Radio Shack, she said. The man was
hospitalized, but his injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
Two
Berkeley officers also suffered minor injuries. Coats said five people were
arrested, but she did not know the charges.
On Sunday
night, demonstrators flooded a highway in Oakland, California. Some threw
explosives, bottles and rocks at officers, authorities said. Officers responded
by deploying gas and arresting eight protesters. In the end, two officers
suffered minor injuries.
Police
said five patrol cars were damaged.
Not
everyone is on their side
In
Imperial, Missouri, demonstrators staged a different kind of protest Sunday.
They
burned St. Louis Rams football jerseys after the protest by players last week, CNN affiliate KSDK reported.
"Why
would you do something like that? It's utterly ridiculous," said Larry
Magee. "I think the Rams ought to pack their bags, and I'll give them a
plane ticket back to L.A."
Daughter:
'This is not a black-and-white issue'
Garner's daughter Erica said she
was deeply moved by the diversity of protesters who have demonstrated across
the country.
"This
is not a black-and-white issue. This is a national crisis," Erica Garner
said.
U.S.
Attorney General Eric Holder has announced a federal civil rights investigation
into Garner's death.
And on
Monday, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he was asking the
state's governor to issue an executive order to change the way the state
reviews cases such as Garner's.
The
order, Schneiderman's office said in a statement, should direct the attorney
general "to investigate and, if necessary, prosecute cases involving
unarmed civilians killed by police officers."
"The
horrible events surrounding the death of Eric Garner have revealed a deep
crisis of confidence in some of the fundamental elements of our criminal
justice system," Schneiderman said.
Unlike
with the Michael Brown case, a video showing the moments leading up to Garner's
death has been widely
circulated.
Erica
Garner says that video has struck a nerve with many.
"For
white people to come out and show how deeply they was hurt and like Asians and,
you know, different people from different nations and different parts of the
world to come out and show that they felt the same way I felt on that video, I
greatly appreciated it. It's like a sense of I'm not the only one that feels
this way."
No comments:
Post a Comment