Eric Garner was killed on July 27th, 2014 in Staten Island, New York when an NYPD officer put him in a chokehold for more than 15 seconds when arresting him. Before that happened, NYPD officers confronted him because they thought he was selling untaxed cigarettes. When Garner said he wasn’t selling cigarettes, the officers tried to arrest him. One officer took him by the neck and pulled him down onto the ground. Four other officers then restrained Garner on the ground, who had to repeat “I can’t breathe” a total of eleven times before losing consciousness. He remained on the ground for seven minutes before an ambulance came, and was declared dead just an hour later.
11 times. Let that sink in…
Media Response & Community Response
As soon as new outlets released the footage of Michael Brown’s killing, the public took to Twitter and began to use the hashtag #icantbreathe to express their outrage with the racism that exists within the U.S. Justice system and to raise awareness of the issue. This hashtag was not simply a trending Twitter fad, but rather a national movement.
This simple hashtag gave way to protests that stretched far beyond the streets of New York City. Many NBA teams and players promoted awareness and voiced their opinions by wearing #icantbreathe t-shirts to warm up on television before games. Star players, such as Derrick Rose, Blake Griffin, and Lebron James, used their platform off the hardwood to speak out on the issue as well. In addition to NBA players, other prominent athletes, such as Calvin Johnson, also used their positions to raise awareness. It is worth noting however that the movement was the most unified in the NBA.
Outside of the world of sports, A-list and B-list celebrities from a variety of fields also spoke out on the issue. In a YouTube post, Samuel L. Jackson urged celebrities to sing ‘I Can’t Breathe,’ while comedian John Stewart pointed out the blatant racism of the U.S. Justice system that some seemed to deny. Rapper J. Cole went on “The Late Show with David Letterman” to perform an original song addressing racism and police brutality that became stuff of internet legend. With the first two individuals reaching out to high income and politically aware audiences, respectively, and the latter preaching more to the “common man,” as well as a bevy of other celebrities speaking out, a culture of unity was cultivated behind the outcry against the killing of Mr. Brown.
Government Response
Mayor Bill de Blasio hosted a roundtable meeting on July 31st with police commissioner Bill Bratton, Reverend Al Sharpton, and many officials in order to discuss the tragedy. Commissioner Bratton stated that there is a need to retrain all 35,000 members of the police force and Mayor de Blasio supported that idea. They believe that the retraining will improve community relations with the NYPD.
On December 3rd, the Richmond County grand jury shocked the country by deciding not to indict Daniel Pantaleo, the officer that was responsible for the incident.
Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer responded by saying that the Department of Justice should launch a federal investigation into the incident.
President Obama made the statements “When anybody in this country is not being treated equally under the law, that’s a problem. It’s incumbent on all of us as Americans …that we recognize that this is an American problem and not just a black problem. It is an American problem when anybody in this country is not being treated equally under the law.”
Former President George W. Bush said that he thought the verdict was “hard to understand” and “very sad”.
Police Response
The #icantbreathe Movement
Young African Americans and all those who were shocked by the recent African American killings and the injustice that followed sparked protests all throughout the nation to bring awareness and justice to not only the police officers involved but also to the justice system at hand. Movements sprung up such as #ThisStopsNow, #HandsUpUnited, and the most famous of all #BlackLivesMatter, which sought to let everyone know that black lives do indeed matter. Eric Garner’s murder lead to the #icantbreathemovement, which trended on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for weeks. Protesters united by means of sit-ins, die-ins, picket lines, and blocking highways and bridges. They demanded their voice be heard, they demanded that the murders immediately end, and that the undoubtedly racist criminal justice system go under a radical reformation.
Michael Stewart was a graffiti artist who died after being detained by the New York City Transit Police for spray-painting graffiti on the wall of the First Avenue subway station. When the officers confronted Stewart, he became violent and then ran to the street before being beaten to unconsciousness. He was then taken to Bellevue Hospital Center for psychiatric observation. Stewart died later due to a heart attack, but a physician said the death was caused by strangulation. All of the officers happened to be white, adding to the controversy. He was just twenty-five years old at the time, making this a tragic incident.
Media Response & Community Response
Seeing as Michael Stewart was an aspiring artist and model, this struck a particular chord among Black artists at the time. One such artist was Andy Warhol’s bromantic partner, Basquiat. Being a black artist, Basquiat was shaken by the death of Michael Stewart. This identification and realization led Basquiat to paint Defacement (The Death of Michael Stewart)
Government Response & Police Response
When the Stewarts’ case went to trial, the defendants, judge, jury, and all the attorneys on both sides of the conflict (even the ones on Stewarts’ side) were all white. All these white individuals were representing the victim, the only black person involved in this case. And so, as the case unfolded all six white police officers involved were acquitted, and the Stewarts family, as well as the rest of the world, were reminded that justice is blind… or at least it is when people of color are involved.
The police were indicted for criminally negligent homicide, assault, reckless endangerment, perjury before the Grand Jury in a cover-up attempt. Medical Examiner claimed Stewart died of a heart attack “pending further study.” William McKechnie of the Transit Patrolman’s Benevolent Association claimed the forensic evidence pointed to a heart attack from exertion resisting arrest complicated by alcohol consumption. All officers were later acquitted and the officers could return to duty within a week. This sparked many protests….
Marcelo Lucero
Media & Community Response:
Marcelo Lucero’s death received extensive coverage from local and national media outlets including CBS News, CNN, and the Huffington Post. Despite this coverage, the community response was mostly contained to local outcry from family members and others within the Suffolk county community. This is notably different than the response that occurred in cases of Black males being the victims of hate crimes and victims of unjust police violence.
Despite the lack of overwhelming community response, enough of a concern was raised that the situation caught the attention of the federal government. In this case, the previous Latino victims of this particular gang of teenagers had been frightened to speak up. This is because many had questionable immigration statuses. Either being in the country illegally or overstaying their visa, they valued being in America more than they valued their safety. With the death of Lucero, the issue finally was brought to the attention of the public without the possibility of the victim being deported. This led to other victims coming out and federal government oversight which worked with Latinos throughout Suffolk County to protect their rights and allow them to speak up regardless of immigration status.
