Eric Garner
New York City Police Commissioner James O’Neill just announced that he has decided to fire police officer Daniel Pantaleo, the man who killed Eric Garner in broad daylight.
Commissioner O’Neill announced the termination during one of the most victim-blaming speeches I’ve ever heard. O’Neill repeatedly blamed Garner for his own death: he accused Garner of resisting arrest, repeatedly; he accused Garner of trying to put Pantaleo through a window; he said he watches the tape (of Garner’s murder) and wanted to tell Garner “don’t do it,” just like he wants to tell the same to Pantaleo. At the very least, he blamed Eric Garner’s health for his death. “I’m sure Mr. Garner did not think himself in such poor health that a brief altercation with the police would result in his death.” The whole speech resurfaces the fundamental police lie that somehow “resisting arrest” is a capital offense on the streets of New York City.
O’Neill, responding to a question, says, “Every person who protects this country looks at that tape and thinks ‘that could possibly be me.’” MOTHERF***ER, everybody BLACK looks at that tape and thinks “that could possibly be me.” The police have authority to end my life BECAUSE I’m black, and all O’Neill can think to worry about is how the cops are going to take it because “one of their own” got fired for killing a man?
Despite the extreme pile of BS shoveled out by O’Neill, he eventually reached the right conclusion. He said that while Pantaleo was justified in initially applying the chokehold that killed Garner (f**k you), he concluded that at the point he was on the ground, gasping for air, BEGGING TO BREATHE, Pantaleo probably should have released his grip. He talked about how Pantaleo was trained to not use that technique, specifically because of how dangerous it is, and his refusal to release it must have consequences.
I’m sure the New York Police Union will bitch. Which is great. Instead of making a strong statement that the murder of unarmed black people will not be tolerated by this department, O’Neill made it seem like cops who will soon be out of the streets brutalizing black people are kind of justified.
NYPD is the freaking worst. If New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio had any freaking strength, he’d fire O’Neill for this press conference alone. The black and brown residents of New York City deserve a police commissioner who isn’t so desperate to whitesplain the cops who murder us.
Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and a contributor at The Nation. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.