Any one with a sense of compassion and commonly good judgment, could not help but be moved in viewing the video of Eric Garner’s attempted arrest by New York police officers.
And, if this is one’s only source of information about this very tragic incident, they could not help but be very concerned, if not enraged, by the fact that Mr. Garner died in the course of an investigation over the peddling of loose cigarettes.
The Staten Island Grand Jury found no criminal responsibility (regarding the charges presented to them) on the part of the police officer’s use of force which resulted in Garner’s death. Mr. Garner had a variety of serious health issues which apparently contributed to his demise when combined with the force applied by the officer (see citations from the Coroner’s report in articles linked to below)
Announcement of the Grand Jury’s decision to not indict the officer touched off immediate protests, not only in New York, but around the nation as well.
It also had the highly predictable effect of bringing the usual cast of characters who seem to be always searching for a cause to advance a very dismal agenda. This “cast” includes the President of the United States, his Attorney General, his “go-to-guy” on “race relations, renowned race-baiter and tax delinquent, the Reverend Al Sharpton. It also brings into prominence, the far left mayor of New York, William DeBlasio.
The reports and comments linked here seem to have the most asserted facts regarding the case. There will be others which will undoubtedly reveal more but we feel that the facts and information provided are sufficient to merit the measured comments found in the articles we cite and our own.
Rush Limbaugh reported on his show today that the attempted arrest of Garner was not simply a matter of a white policemen and black arresstee. Local minority owned business called police to complain about the man; it was a black police precinct chief that authorized the arrest; and the senior police officer present during the arrest was female and black.
Harvard law graduate Ben Shapiro, writing at Breibart.com, after citing and analyzing reported facts about the death, cautions:
Unfortunately, in situations like the Garner case, our gut tends to overwhelm our assessment of the facts. We are sickened, as we should be, by the idea that a man died over sale of loose cigarettes – which is an indictment of the law, rather than of the police. We are sickened by the fact that a man died while warning officers he could not breathe – but we must assess whether that death was caused by the officers, or intervening medical conditions.
When people’s lives are at stake, it is worthwhile to actually examine those facts, rather than pre-conceived narratives constructed for political gain. And it is worthwhile noting that even if the police did use excessive force against Garner that still does not establish that they did so for racial reasons
The Patriot Post included in its recitation of available information that Garner had at least 30 arrests and that he stated he was tired of being arrested (words to that effect). He obviously was not submitting to what is presumed to be standard NYC Police Department procedure (hand cuffing those under arrest).
. . . there are three things to keep in mind – especially for those who have never walked a day in the shoes of men and women in blue.
First, refrain from drawing conclusions based solely on the video. Even the otherwise erudite Charles Krauthammer failed to follow this most basic rule: “From looking at the video, the grand jury’s decision here is totally incomprehensible. … I think anyone who looks at this video would think that this is the wrong judgment.” But the grand jury didn’t weigh only the video.
Second, the real “racial disparity” when it comes to crime is the grossly disproportionate number of violent crimes committed by black people, almost always against other black people. Last year alone, blacks murdered more than 6,000 people, about 400 of whom were white.
And last, altercations with police resulted in 449 assailant deaths last year – 123 black, 326 white. Meanwhile, over the last decade there were an average of 58,261 assaults against law enforcement personnel each year, resulting in 15,658 injuries and more than 150 deaths per year.
Put it this way: The case isn’t exactly black and white.
Things we want to know include does the accused policemen have a record of excessive force and history of racial animosity?
We at Veritas have, like many other Americans, some deeply felt views on this matter and the larger issues involved. We have, however, chosen to wait until more facts related to this case are revealed in order to better inform our opinion.
DLH and R Mall
