CARRYING SIGNS with messages like "Black Lives Matter" and "We Are Human," thousands of New York City residents and people from the surrounding area marched in Staten Island on August 23 to demand justice for Eric Garner and other victims of police brutality and violence.
The attitude of those on the march was summed up by Leah, who said, "We're tired of our young people being shot and killed for no reason other than racism. We're not savages or animals. We're not going to take this anymore. Every time a young man gets shot, we're going to come out."
Five thousand people are expected to attend the "We Will Not Go Back" march on Staten Island on Saturday to call for justice for Eric Garner, who died after being put in an illegal chokehold while being arrested by a New York City police officer.
Joining them will be Rev. Al Sharpton, former Gov. David Patterson, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and the families of both Eric Garner and Michael Brown, the teenager killed by police in Ferguson, Missouri earlier this month.
Justice Caravans will bring attendees from Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Brooklyn.
The march on Saturday, Aug. 23 is being organized by the National Action Network, 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, The United Federation of Teachers, and the NAACP. The march is endorsed by hundreds of organization, including the New York Civil Liberties Union and Communities United for Police Reform.
Responding to a Daily News report that found minorities were overwhelmingly targeted for quality-of-life summonses, the de Blasio administration defended the “broken windows” crimefighting tactic Monday — but said it should be used in a “respectful” way.
A spokesman for the mayor credited broken windows — which calls for aggressively enforcing quality-of-life offenses to prevent more serious ones — with driving down crime to historic lows.
NEW YORK—The death of Staten Island resident Eric Garner from an apparent chokehold during a police arrest has put police–community relations in the spotlight nationwide.
On Thursday the two sides met. Activists and city council members rallied outside City Hall, while the mayor, police commissioner, and community leaders met inside.
The activists are going after a policy they see as ultimately responsible for the death: broken windows policing, but the topic was largely sidestepped by the administration today. Clearly, it’s sensitive.
Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton have vowed to re-train police officers following the death of a 43-year-old Staten Island man in police custody.
But for some, that simply isn’t good enough.
“I am here today to send a message to Commissioner Bratton—training is good, training is not enough,” City Councilwoman Rosie Mendez said during a rally led by Communities United for Police Reform.
When it came to the mayor’s son and the “broken windows” theory, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton didn’t have much to say today.
The typically gregarious police chief declined to offer any extensive comment on Rev. Al Sharpton’s fiery charges at a round table hosted by Mayor Bill de Blasio this morning. Mr. Sharpton claimed that Dante de Blasio, who is half black, would have been the target of an NYPD chokehold if he weren’t the mayor’s son.
NEW YORK - Mayor Bill de Blasio hosted a roundtable on police-community relations following the death of a Staten Island father while in police custody.
NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton, Rev. Al Sharpton, Staten Island clergy members and residents attended the meeting at City Hall to comment on the death of Eric Garner.
Garner's death was caught on video, which shows him being brought down by an officer in an apparent chokehold, sparking a citywide uproar over police tactics. Garner was under arrest for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes.