he US
justice department is to launch a civil rights investigation into the death of
Eric Garner, a black man who was placed in an apparent chokehold by a white New York police officer.
The
inquiry was announced by Attorney General Eric Holder after a grand jury
decided against charging the officer. Continue.....
That
decision prompted street protests in New York. Activists have called for a
march in Washington next week.
President
Barack Obama said the case spoke to "larger issues".
Mr
Garner, 43, was stopped on a street in New York on 17 July on suspicion of
selling loose, untaxed cigarettes.
After a
confrontation with police he was wrestled to the ground and restrained by
force. He became unresponsive and later died.
Solidarity protests were held in Oakland, California |
America
saw a wave of race-related unrest only last week over the decision not to
indict another white police officer who had shot dead a young black man in
Ferguson, Missouri.
Announcing "an independent, thorough, fair
and expeditious" investigation into potential civil rights violations in
the chokehold case, Mr Holder said he was continuing a review of how to heal a
"breakdown in trust" between police and communities.
The
justice department, he said, would conduct a "complete review" of
material gathered in the local investigation. "All lives must be valued -
all lives," he added.
In isolation, the
decision of the grand jury in Staten Island not to indict the white NYPD
officer Daniel Pantaleo would have sparked anger.
The fact that it came
less than 10 days after a grand jury in Missouri decided that the white officer
involved in the shooting of Michael Brown should not face criminal charges has
amplified the sense of racial injustice felt by those who believe the decision
is inexplicable.
In contrast to
Ferguson, there is video evidence showing what happened in Staten Island. New
York's medical examiner had already ruled that the death of Eric Garner was a
homicide, and that the chokehold contributed to it.
Even though America
has a black president and a black attorney general, Eric Holder, this will
reinforce the widespread feeling in poor African-American communities that the
criminal justice system is weighted against them, and that the law is not
colour-blind.
In Washington DC, protesters blocked traffic on Highway I-395 |
'I can't
breathe'
The confrontation
between Eric Garner and police officer Daniel Pantaleo was captured on a
mobile phone.
The footage shows Mr
Pantaleo and other officers arresting him after a lengthy exchange during which
he verbally refuses to be handcuffed.
Several officers move
to restrain Mr Garner, with Mr Pantaleo holding him by the neck. The detainee,
who is asthmatic, can be heard shouting repeatedly, "I can't
breathe!".
City officials found
Mr Garner's death was caused by "the compression of his chest and prone
positioning during physical restraint by police".
Asthma and heart
disease also contributed to his death, they said.
When the grand jury decided not
to bring charges against Mr Pantaleo, the announcement perplexed legal experts.
Ekow
Yankah, a professor at Cardozo School of Law, told the Associated Press it was
"hard to understand" how the jury failed to see probably cause of a
crime.
James
Cohen of Fordham University Law School added: "Logic doesn't play a role
in this process."
On the
streets protesters marched through New York and other cities in the US late on
Wednesday, occasionally disrupting traffic, chanting "I can't
breathe!" and "Hands up - don't choke!"
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