Sharpton Leads Civil-Rights Meeting on Chokehold Decision

Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- On Morning Must Read, Bloombergs Brendan Greeley recaps the op-ed pieces and analyst notes that provide insight into today's headlines. Turnaround Author Peter Henry also speaks on Bloomberg Surveillance. (Source: Bloomberg)

Civil-rights leaders called for a national march and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio spoke about how police can avoid confrontations a day after the U.S. Justice Department began investigating the death of a black Staten Island man choked by a white police officer.

A state grand jury yesterday declined to charge Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner, 43, whose fatal altercation with police was recorded on video by a bystander. The announcement sparked protests across New York City, a reprise of rallies that swept the U.S. after a Missouri grand jury last week declined to indict an officer in the shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson.

The Reverend Al Sharpton, the television host and activist, brought together 25 civil-rights leaders today at his National Action Network in Harlem. Seeking redress on what Sharpton called a dysfunctional state grand jury system will be the focus of a rally in Washington planned for Dec. 13, he said.

We want a centralized march around a broken system that these grand jury decisions have underscored, when even with a videotape you cannot decide whether there is probable cause to go to trial, Sharpton said. A man laying down already surrounded by police choking him, and the man saying, I cant breathe. You cant tell me thats not probable cause to send the case to trial.

People march in protest on the West Side Highway after it was announced that the New York City police officer involved in the death of Eric Garner was not indicted, on Dec. 3, 2014, in New York. Close

People march in protest on the West Side Highway after it was announced that the New... Read More

Close

People march in protest on the West Side Highway after it was announced that the New York City police officer involved in the death of Eric Garner was not indicted, on Dec. 3, 2014, in New York.

The fact that a grand jury couldnt find even a criminal charge of negligence showed that it was biased in favor of the police, Sharpton said. He was joined by speakers including Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League; Melanie Campbell, chief executive of the Black Womens Roundtable; and Hazel Dukes, New York state president of the NAACP.

More:
Sharpton Leads Civil-Rights Meeting on Chokehold Decision

Related Posts

Comments are closed.