Editorial: The disquieting death of Eric Garner
In all the muddied coverage, debate and protests about grand jury findings in the cases of unarmed black men killed at the hands of police in Ferguson and Staten Island, one thing above all else strikes us as certain:
If you watch the video of a group of police forcibly subduing Eric Garner and imagine Garner to be a family member or friend, you cannot avoid coming away with a sense of outrage that no one was indicted in his needless and senseless death.
To us, that much seems certain. But don't take our word for it. Look at the video. Your sense of humanity will tell you.
Look at the video simply as a human being. Try to step back from whatever race or gender defines you; to block out whatever your political point of view may be; to detach from whether you generally support or distrust law enforcement; to ignore your stance on crime; to put aside whether you think the media coverage is excessive, distorted, underplayed or courageous; to remove for the moment whatever biases you otherwise bring to the matter.
Don't look at the video to prove a point or to confirm your beliefs. Look at the video merely to discover what you will see.
We come to this matter with a long-held appreciation for the sacrifice and valor of police officers in general. Every day, they put their lives on the line. So often, their heroism goes unnoticed and unreported. We honor their public service as it deserves to be honored.
We come at this also with a strongly held belief in our courts. They are, as are all human endeavors, imperfect but a foundation of the sanctity of the law, the safeguard of life and property and order. We respect the courts as they both deserve and need respect. But despite those predispositions, we come away now troubled that something is wrong that must be fixed.
We reviewed much of the conflicting testimony presented to the grand jury in the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and it's muddled enough to leave doubt about whether a crime was committed but also to fall far short of exonerating Officer Darren Wilson. That being the case, it is natural to wonder: Why wasn't the matter presented to a court to sort it out in public view?
As to the question of whether Eric Garner's death in Staten Island should have been examined in open court: Watch the video.
Watch Garner argue passionately with police but without hint of any threat. Watch police initiate physical contact. Watch Garner tumble and an officer fold an arm around his neck. Watch a group of officers pin him motionless to the sidewalk and not let up.
Hear Garner call again and again, "I can't breathe. I can't breathe." Feel his panic, the panic of suffocation, the most reflexive and most terrifying panic in our biologies.
Watch the video as a human being. Then ask yourself: What if that was your brother or your spouse or your uncle or your friend?
Would you feel justice has been served?