-blogged by @theRealAlexisDanielle
Years after #EricGarner was killed on the street during an encounter with police, civil rights charges are being sought but are expected to be rejected. Now, for his mother, police reform is the goal to bring justice to her son’s death.
In an editorial by the NY Times Gwen Carr recalled the death of her son and reflected in the change that it should bring about.
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“The day that I found out Eric passed, was the most horrific day I had ever experienced,” Carr said of the news of her son’s death. “They have taken my son’s voice away but his mother still has a voice and I’m going to use it.”
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Back in 2014, a state grand jury decided not to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo on homicide charges.
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Previously the case caused a heavy debate between the Obama Justice Department and the state of New York, who argued that the evidence was not strong enough to bring forth charges. Now, the case has landed in the hands of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has been urged by civil rights prosecutors to seek charges. However, the fate of the case ultimately lies with Mayor Bill de Blasio.
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Carr has a special request for De Blasio.
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“Fire those police officers,” she stated plainly. “Make them stand accountable. Officer Pantaleo is getting away with murder.”
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“If Eric Garner was a white man in the suburbs selling cigarettes on the street, he would have maybe gotten a fine, but he would not have been murdered.
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Carr went on to name nearly a dozen people who have had their lives taken by police including #SandraBland, TamirRice, #AltonSterling, and #MikeBrown. According to Carr, there is no justice for her son because he’s already dead, but she’s fighting for this who are alive.
