Relatives of Tyre Nichols, George Floyd and Eric Garner — three Black men killed in violent confrontations with police officers — expressed frustration Friday with politicians who have failed to pass police reform legislation or have worked to invalidate laws intended to reduce chances that citizens’ encounters with police end in death.
The new report revealed that at least 28 percent of those killed were African Americans, who make up just 13 percent of the U.S. population. Although this figure is staggering, the Center for American Progress (CAP) noted that it is almost certainly under-represents the actual number of civilians who died while in the custody of the criminal justice system.
But such prosecutions and convictions are remarkably rare — Van Dyke got off with an absurdly short sentence). Most killer cops like the murderers of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, and many more go free. And there’s never been anything remotely like the Chauvin trial.
As the presidential campaigns heat up, Americans are provided with a stark choice of leaders. The visits to Kenosha of Donald Trump and Joe Biden provide clear contrasts for all to see.
The Rev. Al Sharpton sat quietly in his office in late July, watching the final funeral service for Rep. John Lewis on a wall-mounted television.
Instead of flying down to the memorial in Atlanta, Sharpton had remained in New York; he had work to do. Preaching at the funeral of a year-old boy who was shot in the stomach at a Brooklyn cookout — a boy not much younger than his first and only grandson — Sharpton demanded gun control, an issue close to Lewis’ heart.
Racism is America’s original sin. Racism that built this nation using the free labor of enslaved Africans. Racism embedded in our original Constitution, claiming that my Black ancestors held only 3/5 of value compared to a white person. Racism that led to racial segregation and discriminatory laws in education, housing and employment. Racism that created a system of law enforcement designed to disproportionately incarcerate Black Americans. For over 400 years, America has used racism to build a wall around Black Americans. This wall has kept Black Americans excluded from opportunities to learn, to work and to vote.
Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43) issued a statement on the murder of George Floyd of Minneapolis, MN. George Floyd was an unarmed African American man who died in police custody after Minneapolis police officers forced him to the ground and one officer pinned his knee on George Floyd’s neck for five minutes.
The racist public murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis has now added to a list of recent and historical victims of police violence and racist terrorism, including Devon Brown, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arberry, Tamir Rice, Atatiana Jefferson, Philando Castile and numerous others. And as our people rise up in massive resistance seeking justice for these Black men, women and children, martyred on the altar of White supremacy, they serve as bright lights and fierce fires lifted up to show the way forward in struggle. Indeed, they call on us to intensify and continue the struggle against the radical evil of these murderous police and vigilante practices and against the savage system which sanctions and supports them and other related forms of oppression. And we owe it to ourselves and to our martyrs to continue the intensified struggle, keep the faith and hold the line until victory.
Outspoken, courageous, and committed, these young African Americans have become, by default, the anchors in a mass movement sparked by the brutal murder of George Floyd in Minnesota. Although they are diverse group of Black youth – by political identification, education, where they are from in the state, and more – they are all uniquely equipped to articulate and bear witness to the racial and economic injustices that a multiracial coalition of Californians have now made their cause.
As our fellow Californians and Americans protest across our country, we must not lose sight of why they are protesting. It’s because of a deep pain that we recognize all too well. The pain of not confronting a dark history that has spanned the life of our country. The pain of recognizing our fathers, uncles, brothers, mothers, sisters, and aunts in the faces of so many Black men and women who were taken from us because of racism and violence.
Four officers were fired a day after George Floyd’s death, a stunning and swift move by the Minneapolis chief with the mayor’s full backing. But despite their dismissal, whether the incident will be considered criminal, or even excessive force, is a more complicated question that will likely take months to investigate.
The officers were dismissed soon after a bystander’s video taken outside a south Minneapolis grocery store Monday night showed an officer kneeling on the handcuffed man’s neck, even after he pleaded that he could not breathe and stopped moving. Floyd’s death prompted protests Tuesday, with thousands taking to the streets at the intersection where he died.
Got it? Now back to Eric Garner. This murdered husband|father|son did not receive justice. Here is what happened. Despite viewing a video of Pantaleo choking (killing) Garner, a grand jury decided not to indict Pantaleo (in 2014) and this unconvicted murderer held his job at the NYPD until 2019 when he was finally fired. To date, the grand jury transcripts were never revealed and there was no trial.
The behavior of the Rancho Cordova police officer who pinned an unarmed 14-year-old African American boy to the ground and punched him repeatedly for purchasing a tobacco product is disgraceful, distressing and outrageous. Sadly, this is not an isolated incident. It is one of far too many videos of police using physical force on a daily basis against people of color in neighborhoods of color. Most police officers work hard to do the right thing but bad police behavior is enabled and fueled by racist policies such as the proposed ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes preferred by over 80% of African Americans who choose to smoke.
A shocking video of a police officer beating a 14-year-old African American boy over a Swisher tobacco cigarette is being shared across social media platforms around the world.
In the clip that has been re-posted tens of thousands of times, a Rancho Cordova deputy is captured pummeling the youth in his chest as he presses him to the ground in an incident that happened April 27.
After five years of investigations and protests, the New York City Police Department on Monday fired an officer involved in the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner, the Black man whose dying gasps of “I can’t breathe” gave voice to a national debate over race and police use of force.