Mayor Bill de Blasio’s relationship with New York City’s police force was destined to be rocky.
He took office as a police reformer, promising to overhaul how the city’s 36,000 officers interacted with the public — especially people of color.
But it was de Blasio’s handling of the 2014 police chokehold death of Eric Garner that permanently poisoned his standing with officers and many of the activists who helped get him elected.
Now, the end of the police disciplinary process is coinciding with de Blasio’s run for the Democratic presidential nomination, and he’s facing questions and a fair amount of criticism on the national stage about the case.
De Blasio was interrupted at Wednesday’s Democratic presidential debate by chants encouraging the firing of the officer. Two days later, an administrative judge recommended the police department do just that.
(AP)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
2 Responses
I agree with the mayor on this one. Anyone who saw the video of Eric Garner’s murder and cares about justice would say, that in the least this officer should be fired. Mr. Garner may have been resisting arrest, but he wasn’t violent or a danger to anyone. besides, there were at least five other officers around him. Once Garner was down why did he have to keep choking him especially when he was begging for his life.? I still shake when I recall this video.
He did NOT choke him, he RESTRAINED him. It makes no difference whether Garner was violent, he was resisting arrest, and it was Pantaleo’s job to arrest him. It really is as simple as that. Garner simply decided he was not going to allow himself to be arrested, and in doing so he gave himself a heart attack.
if Garner really couldn’t breathe he would not have been able to speak either.