Beyond “Training” Of NYPD Officers: Activists Demand More Action From De Blasio Following Chokehold Killing Of Eric Garner

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Eric Garner

 

>>Civil Rights Leaders & New Yorkers Impacted by Discriminatory Policing to Demand Full Accountability for All NYPD officers Involved in Eric Garner’s Death

>>Zero Tolerance for All Police Brutality

>>National civil rights organization ColorOfChange launches petition to Mayor de Blasio, Commissioner Bratton and District Attorney Donovan

 

“Neither the problem nor the solution to systemic police brutality is simply new training, as Commissioner Bratton has indicated and we heard after the deaths of our sons and so many other New Yorkers,” said Constance Malcolm, the mother of Ramarley Graham, who was shot and killed in the bathroom of his home by NYPD officer Richard Haste in 2012.

“It is the lack of true accountability that has allowed officers to continue to abuse, and too often kill, New Yorkers without fear of real consequences. The solution is full accountability for all officers, and an end to the irrational hyper-enforcement of minor infractions that targets communities of color, led to the explosion of stop-and-frisk abuses and the unjust deaths of dozens of Black and Latino New Yorkers, including our sons.”

Iris Baez, the mother of Anthony Baez, who was killed by a chokehold in 1995 by NYPD officer Francis Livotti, agreed.

WHAT: Press conference to call for action by the de Blasio Administration to prevent police brutality

WHEN: Thursday, July 31 at Noon

WHERE: Steps of City Hall, Lower Manhattan

WHO: Rashad Robinson, executive director of ColorOfChange

Council Member Brad Lander

Council Member Rosie Mendez

Ken Cohen, Regional Director of NAACP NYS Conference Metropolitan Council

Maria Castaneda, Secretary-Treasurer of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East

Donna Lieberman, executive director of New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU)

VOCAL-NY

Make the Road New York

Justice Committee

Communities United for Police Reform

WHY: Two weeks ago, Eric Garner died after a NYPD officer placed him in a chokehold that had been a prohibited NYPD procedure for over 20 years. While NYPD officers claimed he was selling “loosie” cigarettes, witnesses at the scene indicated that the police action was prompted by a fight that Mr. Garner had diffused. So far, only two of the officers involved in the incident have had their assignments changed, but there were at least six officers on the scene involved in the encounter.

Mr. Garner is the latest unarmed New Yorker of color among dozens over the past several years to die at the hands of the NYPD – others include Ramarley Graham, Sean Bell, and Anthony Baez. Following most of these incidents, the criminal justice system, previous mayoral administrations and the NYPD have failed to hold the officers fully accountable for their use of excessive, deadly force. After these unjust deaths, previous administrations have frequently pledged new training but it has not prevented these incidents from occurring.

In just the last week, videos of other recent incidents of police brutality have surfaced – one with an officer stomping on a man’s head while he is handcuffed on the ground and another with an officer using the prohibited chokehold on a pregnant woman. All three of these recent police encounters resulted from the hyper-enforcement of minor infractions. On Wednesday, it was reported that the CCRB “recommended disciplinary charges against three Staten Island cops – all assigned to the precinct already under fire in Eric Garner’s death – for using excessive force and failing to get medical treatment for a 52 year-old man who died while in custody.” All three officers remain on full duty.

 

 

 

 

 

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