More Protests in Midtown Following NYC Grand Jury Decision

Protesters took to the streets of Midtown on Wednesday night in response to a New York grand jury’s decision not to indict a white New York City police officer who choked an unarmed black man to death while being recorded by a bystander.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says that the protesters performed a “die-in,” lying across Spring Street near the Varsity, and chanted slogans railing against the perceived miscarriage of justice in the Empire State.

A Staten Island grand jury ruled on Wednesday that there was not enough evidence to indict New York City police officer Daniel Pantaleo on murder charges for the death of 43-year-old Eric Garner in July. Pantaleo was caught on video placing Garner in a chokehold after Garner was found selling loose and untaxed cigarettes, The New York Times reports. Garner repeatedly told the officer, “I can’t breathe,” last words which became a rallying cry for protesters across the country on Wednesday.

The AJC reports that, unlike protests held in Atlanta last week following a Ferguson, MO grand jury’s decision not to indict white police officer Darren WIlson for shooting and killing 18-year-old Michael Brown, an unarmed black man, Wednesday’s demonstrations were entirely peaceful.

Although no arrests were made, the AJC says that protesters did block off traffic on Spring Street with their ”die-in,” and tried to repeat last week’s closure of the Downtown Connector before being deterred by a heavy police presence.

A police spokesman told the AJC that officers observed around 150 protesters during the demonstration, which lasted between 9 and 11:30 p.m.