This is damn right MURDER!!!

[bigdarryl]

The first problem I'm seeing in this video is why the hell are at least 10 if not more cops just standing around looking.You mean to tell me there's nothing else going on in NY. This man was clearly harassed by these thug cops for nothing.

[Baitball Blogger]

1. "Thug cops"

Yep. On the nail.

[dickthegrouch]

2. All 10 of them should be prosecuted

Depraved indifference is what the French call that. Let us just call it depraved and relieve them of their 'responsibilities' to "Protect and Serve", which they clearly couldn't care less about.

[SummerSnow]

3. People are demanding the Commissioner resignation.

4 of the EMS workers are on suspension.


Damn, you can hear him saying he can't breathe.

[Blecht]

9. The tortured him to death

Not only should everybody involved be convicted of murder, they should be given the stiffest penalties possible.

[damnedifIknow]

4. Oh these cops are going to get in so much trouble!

Suspension with pay will teach them!

[TorchTheWitch]

5. he died of a heart attack

Though chokeholds have been banned by NYC for many years, the mere few seconds the guy was in one had nothing to do with his death. He was a very sick man, and it's unsurprising that he finally had a heart attack.

As for the police "harrassing" him, that's also bullshit. He has a very long record of selling cigarettes illegally, and claims that he should be allowed to do so depite it being illegal and that the police should just not "harrass" him about it anymore. The police confronted him and arrested him - AGAIN - for illegally selling cigarettes as he was just observed by the police of his doing just that though he vehemently denied it.

In this incident when the police tried to cuff him he resisted arrest necessitating his being forecably taken down.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/19/nyregion/staten-island-man-dies-after-he-is-put-in-chokehold-during-arrest.html?_r=0

[damnedifIknow]

6. You're a real case Torch

A real case. The choke had nothing to do with his death???? Good gawd.

A chokehold, choke, stranglehold or, in Judo, shime-waza (Japanese: 絞技; English: constriction technique)[1] is a general term for grappling hold that critically reduces or prevents either air (choking)[2] or blood (strangling) from passing through the neck of an opponent. The restriction may be of one or both and depends on the hold used and the reaction of the victim. The lack of blood or air may lead to unconsciousness or even death if the hold is maintained."

Due to risks of injuries, American law enforcement agencies restrict or in some "rare" instances, forbid its use. The Los Angeles Police Department, for example, prohibited its officers from using air chokes and restricted use of the carotid hold to instances where death or serious bodily injury was threatened, after routinely using chokeholds for many years.[8] The Bay Area Rapid Transit Police are completely prohibited from using carotid holds."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chokehold

[TorchTheWitch]

17. it didn't

The state of his bad health had everything to do with his death, and chokeholds can't kill someone when applied for a mere few seconds. Chokeholds were banned in some areas because they can be dangerous manuevers when applied for too long a period. This guy was in a chokehold for SECONDS. Even having one's air completely cut off for a mere few seconds doesn't even cause unconsciousness much less death. The guy ALREADY had severe breathing problems and a host of other serious ailments. Again, he had a heart attack that caused his death. A chokehold doesn't cause heart attacks and certainly not one that lasts for mere seconds. Further, there would have been no reason to take him down in the first place if he hadn't resisted arrest.

The "real cases" here are those people that believe he was perfectly healthy, that a chokehold for mere seconds killed him, and that the police were harrassing him for no reason.

[BronxBoy]

7. I always love how.....

the background of the victim is broadcast loudly to the world in incidents like these but jackshit is said about the background of the cops. The city has already had to pay out a settlement due to the actions of Pantaleo. Another lawsuit is pending. This guy obviously doesn't need to be on the force but let's whitewash his track record of harassing Black men while we bend ourselves into knots trying to justify the killing of yet ANOTHER unarmed Black man.

I know for a fact that when I was reading the Daily News early yesterday that there was a settlement in the millions but later in the day, that reference was scrubbed along with all other references to the cops background. Seems he has a problem with harassing Black men. So unless some other facts come out, I consider him to be a murderer no matter how many loosies were being sold. That whole situation could have been defused with a conversation.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/19/nypd-daniel-pantaleo-chok_n_5602742.html

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/07/police_officer_who_put_eric_ga.html




.

[AngryAmish]

10. He died because of selling coigarettes

As if selling loose cigarettes could be considered a crime in anything resembling a free country. NY created the situation where selling loose cigarettes would be a useful occupation through usurious taxation. NY then sent out their muscle (the cops) to protect their monopoly.

[woo me with science]

11. Another incomprehensibly vile and authoritarian response from you.

Last time it was defending firing a 73-year-old man from his job, because he had given away a corn muffin to a hungry person, five times.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025165684#post67

[TorchTheWitch]

18. it's not authoritarian, it's common sense

The age of that employee shouldn't mean anything. All employees should be treated equally or are you for some reason against that? An older employee shouldn't be discriminated against because of their age nor should they be favored above other employees for the same reason. Frankly, whoever the employer was (can't even recall anymore) they should be applauded for being willing to hire someone of that age at all since most companies wouldn't.

He had given the free food to a man he BELIEVED was a hungry person and done it many times previously and been reprimanded for it. It's no different than giving away free products normally for sale to one's friends or family. All he had to do was ask his manager for approval in giving away free items. Freebies happen often in most restaurants for all kinds of reasons, but whether or not that's done and what's given away and for what reason is the province of management. He was legitimately fired because despite many similar instances he refused to follow the rules of employment that he agreed to when he took the job in the first place.

It isn't about his age or veteran status or who he gave free food to or how much the retail value of the food was. It's common sense business practice to not allow employees to refuse to follow the policies of their employment contract. Working in retail it is not and never has been the prerogative of employees to give away merchandise to anyone without approval from management. Why should that guy NOT have been fired for disobeying the rules despite many previous incidents and knowing he was allowed to do it? What does his age or veteran's status or what he gave away or who he gave it to have anything to do with it? If he was a 20-something bartender giving away free drinks to their buddies and had been caught doing it many times before would anyone think they shouldn't be fired? Of course not. All the crying about his getting fired was because of his age when what he was fired for was the same thing that employees of all ages get legitimately fired for and rightly so every day in all kinds of retail businesses.

As for the guy dying during a police encounter. I'm not in favor of people making shit up just to bash the police. Police hatred here is overwhelming, and in every case the facts of the incident are distorted in order to place blame on the police whether it's warranted or not. Because I'm UNBIASED about such incidents and look at the facts of each case like people are supposed to do you call me authoritarian. Pffftttt.

Sorry, but the guy died because he was a very ill man who had a heart attack. And a choke hold for a mere few seconds cannot induce a heart attack. Yes, it was probably wrong of the police to use a choke hold maneuver especially since they are against procedure in NYC and not a procedure I'm fond of the fact remains that the few seconds of the choke hold was NOT the cause of death. The fact that he was a very ill man with a host of heart attack waiting to happen health issues was the cause. It just happened to occur during an altercation with the police that HE instigated. Yes, HE instigated the matter by doing something illegal that he did frequently, was observed doing again, was confronted about it and denied it and resisted when he was arrested for it. As I said there are plenty of police incidents that occur where the police were horrible and injured or killed someone, but this isn't one of that cases.

If you think it makes me authoritarian to be unbiased in assessing the facts of a matter whether it's a police case or an employee case and coming down of the side of common sense than you don't know the meaning of the word. There's a world of difference between authoritarian and anarchy, and nobody here despite the stupid shit they say about the police or employers wants anarchy, and I'm not going to be silent on cutting through the blind cop hate or employer hate bullshit on here.

[tech3149]

13. Yea, it's really wrong and worthy of a death sentence to try to make a living in this economy

For the most part.
How can you justify officers, no matter how few or how many can't restrain an old man without putting his life at risk? There is a serious problem with the training of our LEO's. The general public is not the enemy and don't wish or act against or to harm them. For the most part people don't want to see the LEO's as the enemy but are there to protect them from dangerous, desperate people. I've seen the training first hand and they are trained to view everyone as a potential threat to their lives and their lives are more important than anyone else s.
Over the last few decades I've gone with the same principal toward medical professionals as law enforcement. The more I can avoid them, the better off I'll be. They will both harm you if it benefits them financially.
I'm lucky that I live in a pretty rural area and don't have to deal with either now. From everything I know about this situation, this guy was just trying to get by and payed the ultimate price.

[aikoaiko]

8. Is there a video showing the altercation?

[Ino]

15. Here' a link to the video

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/staten-island-man-dies-puts-choke-hold-article-1.1871486

[bluesbassman]

12. Tampering with a crime scene should be added to the charges against these assholes.

Once he died, nobody should've been touching that body, yet he was moved again and again.

[napkinz]

14. #JusticeforEricGarner

http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/eric_garner/




Please take action and demand that NYC Police Commissioner Bill Bratton immediately start the process to fire all the officers involved in this devastating police killing. Furthermore, Mayor Bill de Blasio and District Attorney Donovan have the power and the responsibility to hold the police department completely accountable.

Here's the letter we'll send NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan on your behalf. You can add a personal comment using the box provided.

Dear District Attorney Donovan, Mayor de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bratton,

I am deeply troubled by the outrageous conduct of the officers who choked Eric Garner to death in Staten Island. Garner is the latest in a long history of Black and brown New Yorkers who have unjustly had their lives cut short by police officers over the past decades. But this time the entire brutal encounter was caught on tape.

The officers involved can be seen using a violent chokehold to subdue Eric – which runs counter to the NYPD's use of force policy. This brutal choking is yet another example of unnecessary police encounters resulting from policing policies and practices that target Black and brown communities, such as Stop and Frisk and now Commissioner Bratton's "broken windows" tactic. These discriminatory tactics subject Black and brown New Yorkers to constant harassment, violence and can can quickly escalate and turn fatal.

In order for these incidents to end, it is critical that a thorough and fair investigation be conducted, justice be served and all of the officers involved in the deadly altercation be held accountable.

We demand that these officers be held completely accountable for their outrageus conduct and excessive use of force.

Sincerely,

Your Name

[woo me with science]

16. K&R