We Will Not Go Back Rally
23 August 2014 By Abi Giwa
People in black community protesting against police high handedness (www.dailynews.com)
Eric Gardner died under police arrest on Bay Street and Victoria Boulevard in Staten Island, New York City. Today the circumstances of his death is a cause for public protest termed "We Will Not Go Back Rally" at the spot where he died, with a march to the district attorney's office and other venues, to be followed with a congregation with public speakers that include Rev. Al-Sharpton.
The march is to protest what the organizers describe as police brutality against Gardner and probably the cause of Gardner's death by chokehold in police hands. However, police enthusiasts are saying the chokehold is not the cause of Gardner's death. They say medical examiner's report attribute the chokehold as part of the cause and not the cause, against news reports that say medical examiner rules Gardner's death a homicide and that the chokehold as determinant.
Police enthusiasts are trying as much as they could to say the number of times the police have arrested Gardner to justify the arrest attempt that led to Gardenr's death. They say that if Gardner has surrender to arrest, there would have been no struggle or chokehold. They say the police has the right to arrest and that a surrender to arrest is all that is necessary to avoid messy situation like the one in Staten Island. But some are asking questions as to why only black people fall victim to police brutality all the time and hardly there is any person of other race that has died in police hands requiring calls for justice.
They mention Amadou Diallo in New York, Trayvon Martin in Florida, Michael Brown in Missouri and Eric Garden also in New York City to mention just a few. But a retired police officer who has just relocated from New York City to Georgia, after several years in the force expresses what calls reluctance by even black police officers including himself, to serve in black community for propensity of violence and police officers' fear of getting killed on the job.
The nation witnessed what was a tumultuous call for justice, when Martin was killed by a neighborhood watch captain who was set free by a court of law. For two weeks or so, Ferguson in Missouri has been on the edge over protests on the killing of Michael Brown. Unarmed Brown was said to have been shot six times with one bullet on the head, one on his neck and the remaining ones in other parts of his body. Police attempt to link Brown's encounter with his killer in Missouri with stealing cigarettes from a store had only led to further protests, just like the police in New York are saying that Gardner has been arrested several times for selling illegal cigarettes.
Martin was not armed; Brown was not armed and Gardner was not armed. Many members of the public view police action in all the three cases as excessive use of force and brutal. It is what some people see as a wave of brutality from Florida to Missouri and to New York.
The police also recount cases of officers who have been killed on the line of duty by criminals, and a development that has made policing work something like a shadow that scares, to borrow the words of Dick Gregory.
The Police Benevolent Associations across the country always stand in demand of justice anytime a police officer is killed, blaming the killings on guns in possession of criminals who should not be allowed to carry guns. The PBA in Florida says in its website that they are a professional association of law enforcement officers, most effective in in providing labour, legal and legislative representation, along aggressive political activity. They say further that law enforcement officer willingly risk his life everyday protecting others; that as a result of police efforts, people live a better life in safer community, while sacrifices and dangers police face are often taken for granted.
The march is to protest what the organizers describe as police brutality against Gardner and probably the cause of Gardner's death by chokehold in police hands. However, police enthusiasts are saying the chokehold is not the cause of Gardner's death. They say medical examiner's report attribute the chokehold as part of the cause and not the cause, against news reports that say medical examiner rules Gardner's death a homicide and that the chokehold as determinant.
Police enthusiasts are trying as much as they could to say the number of times the police have arrested Gardner to justify the arrest attempt that led to Gardenr's death. They say that if Gardner has surrender to arrest, there would have been no struggle or chokehold. They say the police has the right to arrest and that a surrender to arrest is all that is necessary to avoid messy situation like the one in Staten Island. But some are asking questions as to why only black people fall victim to police brutality all the time and hardly there is any person of other race that has died in police hands requiring calls for justice.
They mention Amadou Diallo in New York, Trayvon Martin in Florida, Michael Brown in Missouri and Eric Garden also in New York City to mention just a few. But a retired police officer who has just relocated from New York City to Georgia, after several years in the force expresses what calls reluctance by even black police officers including himself, to serve in black community for propensity of violence and police officers' fear of getting killed on the job.
The nation witnessed what was a tumultuous call for justice, when Martin was killed by a neighborhood watch captain who was set free by a court of law. For two weeks or so, Ferguson in Missouri has been on the edge over protests on the killing of Michael Brown. Unarmed Brown was said to have been shot six times with one bullet on the head, one on his neck and the remaining ones in other parts of his body. Police attempt to link Brown's encounter with his killer in Missouri with stealing cigarettes from a store had only led to further protests, just like the police in New York are saying that Gardner has been arrested several times for selling illegal cigarettes.
Martin was not armed; Brown was not armed and Gardner was not armed. Many members of the public view police action in all the three cases as excessive use of force and brutal. It is what some people see as a wave of brutality from Florida to Missouri and to New York.
The police also recount cases of officers who have been killed on the line of duty by criminals, and a development that has made policing work something like a shadow that scares, to borrow the words of Dick Gregory.
The Police Benevolent Associations across the country always stand in demand of justice anytime a police officer is killed, blaming the killings on guns in possession of criminals who should not be allowed to carry guns. The PBA in Florida says in its website that they are a professional association of law enforcement officers, most effective in in providing labour, legal and legislative representation, along aggressive political activity. They say further that law enforcement officer willingly risk his life everyday protecting others; that as a result of police efforts, people live a better life in safer community, while sacrifices and dangers police face are often taken for granted.
