Eric Garner’s Arrest and Death About More Than Just a Chokehold

The brutal takedown and arrest
of Eric Garner by the New York Police Department in Staten Island,
which was quickly followed by the man’s death, became top national
news after New York Daily News released video of the
encounter (check
here for more info).

There was a rally about the incident on Saturday (with Rev. Al
Sharpton in attendance) and Mayor Bill DeBlasio has said he was

“deeply troubled” about the incident and called for more
investigation.

The focus, though, seems to be primarily on the chokehold itself
used to take Garner down. Two officers involved in the incident
have been
assigned to desk duty during the investigation. A sample of
some headlines about the circumstances of Garner’s death: “Death of
New York man sparks closer look at police use of chokeholds”
(Los
Angeles Times); “Complaints About Chokeholds Are Focus of
Study” (The
New York Times). Nearly every headline surrounding the
incident focuses on the chokehold.

This is not to say that the actual manner by which the police
took Garner down should not be thoroughly explored. NYPD guidelines
apparently forbid the use of chokeholds, yet The New York
Times story notes that a review board has received more than
1,000 complaints of police using chokeholds going back to 2009. The
Times also notes that one of the officers who has been
plunked on desk duty has been sued twice in federal court for civil
rights violations, including one case where he pulled over a
vehicle for a broken taillight and then strip-searched its
inhabitants on the side of the road.

We should be concerned that the reason why the police swarmed
Garner in the first place is getting lost. He allegedly possessed
“untaxed cigarettes.” That is it. There is this press focus on
how the police took Garner down, and the problem with that
focus is the question, “Well, what do you do when a 400-pound man
refuses to cooperate when you try to arrest him?” Or to put it
another way: Would there be an objection to police using a
chokehold to take down and subdue man who was engaged in violent
activity harming others? Because you know that’s going to be part
of the defense of this behavior.

There needs to be more attention on the absurd reason that a
pack of police officers was on top of Garner in the first place:
black market cigarettes. It’s a crime that only takes place because
of the city’s own oppressive taxation system. It’s a crime that
happens when the city makes it too hard for people (especially poor
people, of course) to get what they want legally.