The medical examiner in the Eric Garner case has officially ruled his death a homicide.
The report said that Garner’s death was caused by neck and chest compressions which were from the choke hold he was put in by an NYPD officer, as well as the position of restraint he was in during the arrest.
The examiner listed other factors that “contributed” but were not the leading causes such as asthma and hypertensive cardiovascular disease.
Since we already have video of this horrible incident, this new medical ruling should be a huge step forward in criminally charging and prosecuting all of the responsible officers involved in this case. The justice system in New York?must step forward and expedite this process. The pain Garner’s family has endured is certainly almost unbearable, as moving videos from his funeral broke our hearts. Nothing can be done to bring Garner back but we cannot continue to accept the death of black and brown people in our nation without punishment for their killers.
Justice for Eric Garner would?not just be justice for one individual and his family, but it would be justice for a people. This would show that we DO matter. The apathetic and often [even] mean-spirited ways in which those in power act towards the most vulnerable among us, can not be seen as acceptable behavior. This is not simply a rogue cop issue. The ways in which our police force is being trained is troubling to me. Acting in potentially fatal ways without care or second thoughts, cannot be the best nor only policy that could be implemented.
We should all keep an eye on this case because there seems to be an abundance of evidence that Eric Garner was murdered. A manslaughter charge at least should be on the horizon.
We’ll keep you posted on this developing story, and please let us know your thoughts on the Liberal America Facebook page.
