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On the Staten Island Decision: The grand jury may have gotten it wrong on Eric Garner.
National Review ^ | 12/04/2014 | Andrew C. McCarthy

Posted on 12/04/2014 6:30:27 AM PST by SeekAndFind

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1 posted on 12/04/2014 6:30:27 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

This case simply doesn’t have the right material to get the left riled up.

This guy is too old, doesn’t represent the thug culture, takes place in NYC (no racists in blue cities /s), and people on the right were out front in condemning this, so there is no political mileage to be made.


2 posted on 12/04/2014 6:38:46 AM PST by VanDeKoik
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To: SeekAndFind

Was the author on the GJ? Yeah didn’t think so.


3 posted on 12/04/2014 6:38:54 AM PST by Ray76 (Who gave the stand down order? Benghazi? Ferguson?)
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To: SeekAndFind
I admit that the Staten Island case is much more "questionable" than the Ferguson case. I think the NY cops may have been in the wrong. But this --

Garner’s pleas suggest that the police used excessive force

I have to reject that. People who are choking cannot talk. Garner spoke repeatedly, saying he couldn't breathe. To me, he was giving evidence that he was breathing.

I think we all know that cops are trained to say "I was in fear for my life" -- that can justify almost any shooting.
Well, crooks aren't dumb. If the crook wants you to get off him, he's apt to say "I can't breathe". That does not mean that he cannot breathe.

Lastly, Garner was an enormous individual. People like that should have an awareness of their situation -- if the cops are hassling you, you have 2 essential choices:
1) Drop to your knees, spread your arms and legs, go flat on the ground, and be ready to be handcuffed.
2) Resist.

There is not in-between option with a guy of that seize. If he's not being 100% submissive, then the cops are going to decide he's resisting. And that isn't going to go well.

4 posted on 12/04/2014 6:39:02 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (Democrats have a lynch mob mentality. They always have.)
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To: SeekAndFind

you know what... I just watched the video and they only had him in that choke hold for about 12-13 seconds.

The choke hold did not kill him.


5 posted on 12/04/2014 6:42:59 AM PST by TexasFreeper2009 (Obama lied .. the economy died.)
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To: Ray76

It’s fine with me if everyone thinks cops should wrestle 300 pound guys. You’ll have to pay them more though. A LOT MORE!!


6 posted on 12/04/2014 6:44:04 AM PST by The Toll
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To: SeekAndFind

Cops should not be required to enforce tax laws. In this case, the police were given no options - they were charged with arresting an individual who was appealing to the public by eliminating excessive taxes for a legal product.

Garner and the cops are victims of an abusive regulation.


7 posted on 12/04/2014 6:44:13 AM PST by sodpoodle (Life is prickly - carry tweezers.)
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To: SeekAndFind
Pic: Garner Protester Can’t Breathe… Or Spell…

D’oh!

Via Weasel Zippers

8 posted on 12/04/2014 6:44:35 AM PST by KeyLargo
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To: ClearCase_guy

if you watch the time stamp on the video, he was only choked from about the 39 second point to the 52 second or so point.


9 posted on 12/04/2014 6:45:33 AM PST by TexasFreeper2009 (Obama lied .. the economy died.)
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To: SeekAndFind
1. Garner was belligerent and argumentative.

2. The police were there because the owner of the property in front of which Garner was attempting to illegally sell loose cigarettes called them to complain about it.

3. Garner physically resisted arrest.

4. Garner had 30 prior arrests. How does someone even get arrested that many times? Obviously, at least some of those were valid, and not just because racist cops felt like giving him a hard time.

5. Garner was quite overweight, diabetic, and asthmatic - all factors which contributed to his death.

6. Don't start nothin', won't be nothin'.

I am by no means saying he deserved to die over this, but the sequence of events that led to his death were entirely his own doing. I have never been handcuffed, or beaten, or otherwise threatened by police. But that may have more to do with the fact that I haven't tried to sell anything illegally, haven't walked down the middle of the street when a cop told me to get on the sidewalk, and haven't strong-arm robbed a convenience store for cheap cigars, than with the fact that I happen to be white.

10 posted on 12/04/2014 6:46:29 AM PST by Sicon ("All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." - G. Orwell)
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To: VanDeKoik

plus the sergeant police supervisor involved was a black female.


11 posted on 12/04/2014 6:49:20 AM PST by elpadre (AfganistaMr Obama said the goal was to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-hereQaeda" and its allies.)
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To: SeekAndFind

I’m really torn by this grand jury decision because the Police should not have used the excessive force they did on this victim because the sale of a single cigarette.

Though at the same time the Victim is also responsible because he failed to submit to the officers authority,when the officer told him he was under arrest.

All the Victim had to do was willingly submit and he would have been out of jail in hours instead of dead.

The way I see it the Police should have used a Tazer on this guy as soon as he started to resist.Though,There is no guarantee he would have survived that with his health issues.

The bottom line here is that You don’t Resist the Police when you’re placed under arrest.


12 posted on 12/04/2014 6:50:13 AM PST by puppypusher ( The World is going to the dogs.)
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To: The Toll

RE: It’s fine with me if everyone thinks cops should wrestle 300 pound guys.

Eric Garner was closer to 400 pounds. And he was asthmatic.


13 posted on 12/04/2014 6:50:48 AM PST by SeekAndFind (If at first you don't succeed, put it out for beta test.)
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To: puppypusher

14 posted on 12/04/2014 6:52:50 AM PST by SeekAndFind (If at first you don't succeed, put it out for beta test.)
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To: ClearCase_guy

I’ve been thinking mostly the same. I’ll openly admit, I have issues with the methods used by police and have always noted they don’t seem to much care how much injury they are causing so I am somewhat biased, admittedly. Most times, pepper spray is just as effective. However, the “if you can talk, you can breath” is somewhat misleading. If your throat is closed off, you can’t speak obviously true. However, if you have a couple of 200 pound men with their knees in your back, you can’t inhale, but you can exhale and produce strained speech for a while. You may also be able to intake a small amount of air, but not enough to stay conscious for long. Your diaphragm simply isn’t strong enough to work against the weigh at a certain point. Granted, some sort of force was necessary in this case, but I do believe it was excessive... not counting the fact that this probably would NOT have killed a normal person, this guy had medical issues that more than likely added to enough to cause the death (just as pepper spray might have to be hones, asthma was a factor). I just don’t believe a knee to the back and a knee on someone’s head is proportional reaction at least until other methods have been exhausted and are no other choices. I mean really, how fast or far could this guy have ran?


15 posted on 12/04/2014 6:54:52 AM PST by FunkyZero (... I've got a Grand Piano to prop up my mortal remains)
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To: SeekAndFind
I doubt this was racial at all. Of course, don't try telling that to the millions who didn't consider the evidence in the Brown case and who certainly won't in this case either.

That said, Why are cops arresting people for selling "illegal" cigarettes? Give him a ticket, tell him to move on, whatever, but this whole mess seemed unnecessary.

16 posted on 12/04/2014 6:54:57 AM PST by opus86
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To: ClearCase_guy

Obama “this is an American issue”.

He attacks the legal process. He complained about Ferguson, mischaracterizing it and casting it in racial terms. He complained about the GJ decision there, calling protestors actions “understandable anger”... admonishing police, and thus legitimizing rioters. And now again here in NY he mouths off.

He attacks Congress’s authority, usurping it, and daring them to oppose him.

Obama is evil.


17 posted on 12/04/2014 6:56:24 AM PST by Ray76 (Who gave the stand down order? Benghazi? Ferguson?)
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To: ClearCase_guy

It looks like the hold put pressure on the carotid arteries on both sides of the neck while pushing his head forward, which restricted blood flow to the brain leading to unconsciousness.
The sensation he felt as he was passing out probably was a sensation of not being able to breathe.

Why is the NYPD enforcing tax law? This is small time stuff. Its all about the pennies the city would receive on the sale of untaxed cigarettes.
It boils down to $$$. Get stopped in NYC with a small amount of marijuana, you get a ticket.


18 posted on 12/04/2014 6:57:24 AM PST by Sasparilla
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To: SeekAndFind

Obama has said since he came on the scene that he didn’t like the Constitution because it was too restricting. He wants a Constitution which gives more power to government and less to the people. And if you notice, he has been chipping away at the edges. By castigating law enforcement and the judicial system (Grand Jury)and causing people to loose respect for them is only a first step. Some folks here on FR seem to be part and party of such a movement.Looking back at the past five years you will find other instances whereby he is attacking the Constitution. What say ye!!!


19 posted on 12/04/2014 6:58:02 AM PST by elpadre (AfganistaMr Obama said the goal was to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-hereQaeda" and its allies.)
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To: SeekAndFind
"Again, we do not know all the evidence in the record so it is perilous to opine. "

And that's the crux of the matter. In Browns GJ all evidence was allowed. This Prosecutor did not want a true bill so may have kept critical evidence excluded.

20 posted on 12/04/2014 6:59:52 AM PST by moehoward
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