As if the default position is that cops are always right and must be obeyed, rather than that cops have a burden (and a professional obligation) to show good reason for using handcuffs, and to use good reason when dealing with people. It reminds me of the Henry Louis Gates arrest, where his "crime" was basically talking back.
He would have been arrested whether he talked back / resisted or not. Per the linked articles, Garner was allegedly committing a crime that apparently is reported to the police by shop owners somewhat often, as they feel that someone selling cigarettes individually is stealing their livelihood. The cops do arrest people on those charges.
Plus, and PoliceOne is obviously a biased source, but they note Garner was a career criminal with a history of misdemeanors and (what I assume are) felonies.
- Garner has been arrested 31 times since 1988 on charges such as drug possession, selling untaxed cigarettes and assault, police said. He was last arrested in May for selling untaxed cigarettes, court records show. Since 2009, he was arrested nine different times for selling such cigarettes, police said.
He also reportedly had three cigarette-related misdemeanor arrests pending in Criminal Court.
It's likely that the arresting officers were aware of all of this.
But why the fuck did they need four officers to arrest one guy for a misdemeanor? None of them have ever had to subdue a large suspect before? And that chokehold almost definitely resulted in Garner's death. Chokeholds can cause a person to panic and in someone with severe asthma, that panic can be fatal. Ultimately, ignoring someone saying nine times, "I can't breathe!" when you are arresting them is criminally negligent. I hope a jury throws the book at them for manslaughter.
posted by
zarq at 7:48 AM on July 22
