PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE AND FORMER SAN ANTONIO MAYOR JULIAN CASTRO CALLS DOJ’S ERIC GARNER DECISION “A TRAVESTY”

MAYOR CASTRO

[Police Brutality News]
Former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro: “I’m disappointed that the Justice Department is not bringing charges against that officer. We saw a video that showed the officer engaged in excessive force against Eric Garner.”
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro calls Justice Department decision not to file charges against Eric Garner’s killer, Officer Daniel Pantaleo, “a travesty.”

This week the William Barr Justice Department decided they would not seek justice for Eric Garner, who had his life taken by NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo on July 17, 2014.

Garner was killed when Officer Pantaleo choked him to death as he uttered his dying words of “I can’t breathe.” It has been five years since Garner’s senseless death, and there has been no justice for the Garner family.

Presently, Democratic Party presidential hopefuls are now in the midst of campaigning. All of these candidates know they need the votes of African Americans if they expect to be the Democratic Party’s nominee. Yet, most of these candidates hardly—if ever—say anything about one of the most pressing problem that face Blacks in America: police brutality.

However, one candidate is separating himself from the pack in not only addressing this issue–but in proposing a plan to reform the police: former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro.

After Tuesday’s Justice Department decision not to file federal charges against Garner’s killer, Daniel Pantaleo, Castro spoke out forcefully about the injustice in that decision.

“I’m disappointed that the Justice Department is not bringing charges against that officer,” Castro said. “We saw a video that showed the officer engaged in excessive force against Eric Garner. That he used a choke maneuver that is not supposed to be used by the NYPD. He did that for seven seconds. It was very clear what he was doing. Mr. Garner said 11 different times that he couldn’t breathe. This officer had plenty of warning. He should have understood what he was doing, that he was killing Eric Garner.”

Castro went further in his criticisms.

“Attorneys in Washington D.C. for the Civil Rights division of the Department of Justice recommended that charges be brought against this officer,” Castro said. “And still, this Department of Justice is not bringing charges. This is a failure of our justice system. It is a travesty.”

Mayor Castro says if he becomes president, he will reform policing in America.

“If I were president, I would move immediately to reform policing in the United States,” said Castro. “So that no matter what color your skin is, what neighborhood you lived in, how much money you have or don’t have, you would be treated the same by law enforcement.”

After invoking the names of Black victims of police brutality like Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Laquan McDonald, Walter Scott, Stephon Clark, Sandra Bland and Pamela Turner, Castro said the problems with policing has nothing to do with “a few bad apples.”

“All of these individuals who are Black, who get treated differently by police,” Castro said. “I know that we have some great police officers, but this is not the problem of a few bad apples, a system is broken, and we need to fix it.”

On his www.juliancastro.com website, Mayor Castro says this: “If police in Charleston, South Carolina can arrest Dylann Roof after he murdered nine people worshipping at Bible study, without hurting him, then don’t tell me that Michael Brown, and Tamir Rice, and Aiyana Jones, and Eric Garner, and Jason Pero, and Stephon Clark, and Sandra Bland shouldn’t be alive today, too.”

Mayor Castro’ words should be noted by African Americans. If he can speak these truths, why can’t the others now busy lobbying us for our votes do the same?

For more information on Julian Castro’s police reform plans logon to: https://issues.juliancastro.com/people-first-policing/

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *