Fury over the U.S. Justice Department’s decision not to prosecute Daniel Pantaleo (pictured), the New York police officer who killed Eric Garner in 2014, compelled angry protesters to visit the officer’s home Wednesday night
Fury over the U.S. Justice Department’s decision not to prosecute the New York police officer who killed Eric Garner in 2014 compelled angry protesters to visit the cop’s home in the pouring rain Wednesday night.
Sorrow over the controversial ruling by Trump-appointed Attorney General William Barr had long ago turned to rage, emotion seemingly manifested by the heavy downpour, rumbling thunder and streaks of lightning that lit up the pitch black sky in the quiet Staten Island subdivision where officer Daniel Pantaleo lives.
The passionate group of about 100 activists traveled to the location in secret, but a large group of NYPD officers, some wielding riot shields, was there to greet them.
‘He needs to be scared everywhere that he go! We will find you, Pantaleo!’ the demonstrators chanted as they marched through the neighborhood.
An estimated 100 protesters tried to approach Pantaleo’s residence Wednesday night, but they were cut off by dozens of NYPD officers
The officers stood shoulder to shoulder and silently blocked demonstrators from approaching Pantaleo’s property
The activists said they were angry about the U.S. Justice Department’s recently-announced decision not to prosecute Pantaleo
The group said they wanted to send a message to Pantaleo, the patrolman seen on video putting Garner in a banned chokehold on July 17, 2014, as well as the rest of the NYPD and other alleged bad cops across the nation who target, abuse and needlessly kill people of color – if the justice system won’t hold you accountable, then the activist community will find other ways to do so.
‘This is a message for y’all! The same way y’all can find us?! We can find you!’ an enraged and rain-soaked Kim Ortiz of the protest group NYC Shut It Down shouted at the silent row of cops that stood shoulder to shoulder behind yellow police tape and barricaded the activists from getting any closer to officer Pantaleo’s home.
‘You, you, you, you!’ another activist added as she pointed at each individual officer.
‘Ain’t no more, “Hands up! Don’t shoot!”‘ Ortiz continued. ‘All of y’all got addresses! All of y’all! Alright?! And we will show up every f*ckin’ time!’
Some of Pantaleo’s neighbors opened their front doors and shouted at the protesters, who shouted and cursed back at them.
‘No justice, no peace! F*ck these racist police!’ they shouted. ‘No more pigs in our community! Off the pigs! No more comrades in jail! Pigs are gonna catch hell!’
Pantaleo never emerged from his home, decorated with a Blue Lives Matter flag, to address the crowd, which came and left without any arrests being made.
Earlier the same evening, the protesters stood with Jewel Miller (center), the mother of Eric Garner’s youngest child, Legacy, 5, as she confronted police standing outside 51st precinct in Staten Island where Pantaleo still works
Officers stand on the steps of the 51st precinct in Staten Island as protesters shout at them
Earlier the same evening, the protesters stood with Jewel Miller, the mother of Eric Garner’s youngest child, Legacy, as she confronted police standing outside 51st precinct in Staten Island where Pantaleo still works.
She reminded the officers that Legacy Garner after Eric Garner was killed and never had the opportunity to meet father.
‘My daughter is five! F*ck all of y’all! Death to all of you motherf*ckers!’ Miller shouted at a group of four officers who stood on the steps of the police station. ‘You stand here with your f*ckin’ job, and your f*ckin’ pension, and you go home to your motherf*ckin’ kids every night!’
Now that criminal charges for Pantaleo are no longer possible, demonstrators said they hope their protests will put political pressure on New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is running a longshot campaign for president, to force the city’s police commissioner to fire Pantaleo from the force.
Mayor Bill de Blasio is under pressure to force his police commissioner to fire Pantaleo
Activists on Thursday said tried to force the mayor’s hand, saying he has no shot of being president unless Pantaleo is forced off the force
Presidential candidate and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg has faced similar pressure from activists in his city over another controversial police killing of a black resident.
‘If de Blasio wants any small hope of being president, he has to take care of home first,’ demonstrator Danielle Yhap said. ‘There’s still hope.’
De Blasio has deflected responsibility for the decision, set to be announced in August, to his police commissioner, James O’Neill, while blaming the U.S. Justice Department under former president Barack Obama as well as Donald Trump, for not acting on the case.
‘The mistake here was believing that the justice department was going to do its job,’ de Blasio told CBS New York. ‘I’m not issuing an opinion because I respect that this process has to play out…
‘I feel very strongly as somebody who wants to be president that what leaders do is look at our legal system, look at what matters for making our institutions work for people and not because of political gain,’ the mayor continued. ‘Being a leader takes a lot of restraint and being a leader takes a lot of patience.’
The city’s police commissioner has declined to comment on the Pantaleo disciplinary hearing, ‘to ensure the integrity of the investigation,’ CBS New York reported.