Neighbor News
Over 200 Arrests in New York City Protests
Violent riots in result of the grand jury's decision not to indict white police officer in Eric Garner case.
The New York City Police Department arrests 223 people Thursday night, the second consecutive night of large-scale demonstrations in objection to the grand jury’s decision not to indict white Staten Island police officer in the chokehold death of Eric Garner.
The July 17 death of 43-year-old Eric Garner, father of six, spurred from police’s suspicion of the illegal sale of cigarettes on a Staten Island sidewalk and included a chokehold confrontation.
The majority of the arrests involved refusal to clear the streets and disorderly conduct, according to ABC News.
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Before marching across the Brooklyn Bridge carrying replicas of coffins, the protesters gathered downtown Manhattan in Foley Square where the crowd swelled to about 5,000 police said. Protesters also filled the streets of lower Manhattan neighborhoods, near the Staten Island Ferry Terminal.
In a stand off with the police, some marchers headed towards the West Side Highway while others started in Harlem. Marchers also disrupted major intersections that lead to the Holland and Lincoln tunnels. Major traffic jams were created in Herald and Union squares as well as Flatbush and Atlantic avenues.
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The protesters chanted, “No justice, no peace!”, “I can’t breathe”, and “Shut the whole system down!” They carried signs that read, “I can’t breathe,” “Black Lives Matter,” and “He would be alive if he were white.”
The crowd of protesters marched down Chinatown on Canal Street as they continued to pass court buildings on White and Centre streets. The protesters cheered prisoners on as they pounded on the windows, reported Wall Street Journal.
In several confrontations with the police, protesters threw metal barricades and trashcans. The NYPD responded by using pepper spray.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio again called for better police training. “A whole generation of officers will be trained in a new way,” he said, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“They feel that the police service they are getting is not fair and not impartial,” Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said in an interview. “They lost faith in us to a large extent, and we’ve got to restore that.”