• New York: the agent who suffocated a black street vendor exonerated. Clashes are feared
  • There is no culprit for Eric Garner's death. Tensions in New York
  • #ICantBreathe: "I don't breathe"

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04 December 2014

The Justice Department will investigate the death of Eric Garner, the unarmed black boy from New York who was suffocated after being caught by the neck by a white policeman. An anonymity-protected Justice Department official said so. "Federal authorities will investigate Garner's death," said the official after Attorney General Eric Holder spoke to the case with President Barack Obama. The federal investigation decided by the Obama administration - which will soon be announced by the minister of justice - is aimed at verifying the possible violation of civil rights in the behavior and procedures followed by police officers in the Garner case.

In just over a week, it is the second time in the United States that a Grand Jury decides not to indict a white policeman responsible for the death of an unarmed black man. After Ferguson, anger explodes in New York: a night of demonstrations and marches to protest the verdict of the judges that does not incriminate Daniel Pantaleo, the agent who last July 17 suffocated and killed Eric Garner, African American, suspected of seeing cigarettes smuggled. Thousands of people were on the street.

New York, procession night: 30 arrests
Illuminated by the Christmas decorations that fascinate tourists so much, protesters marched in Times Square, where they blocked traffic, and occupied Grand Central station, staging a die-in: all lying on the ground, they pretended to be dead for a few minutes. At the Rockefeller Center they disturbed the traditional Christmas tree ceremony. And then marches almost everywhere, besides Manhattan also in Staten Island, where Eric Garner lived and was killed: although most of the marches were peaceful, the night ended with 30 arrests.

Spike Lee also manifests: Do The Right Thing, a viral premonition
Famous people such as Spike Lee participated in the protest march against the decision of the Grand Jury, who decided to march without an escort with his son. Many have posted a photomontage with two suffocation scenes on Twitter: in one there is Eric Garner just before he dies, the other is read as a premonition and is taken from Do The Right Thing, the film by the African American director released 25 Years ago.

Watch Do The Right Thing @SpikeLee pit what happened to Eric Garner on film 25 years ago. #ICantBreathe #WakeUp pic.twitter.com/WhyW7NAaNt

- Ellis (@ice_burgess) December 3, 2014


Protests across the country
Washington residents also took part in the outrage over the non-indictment of Pantaleo - where a collective demonstration was organized for next December 13th - Seattale and Oakland. 

Eric Garner
's death video Eric Garner 's death is all in this video. Stopped because he was suspected of selling smuggled cigarettes, in a few minutes he was grounded and immobilized by agent Daniel Pantaleo, helped by a colleague. He tried to resist arrest, it's the police version. A first medical examination had mentioned murder because the agent had compressed the man's neck and chest, a death to which his health, asthma and obesity problems also contributed. In the images you can see Garner - 43 years old, father of six, tall and big - talking and a minute later he is on the ground, immobilized, he says he cannot breathe. He will die of a heart attack.


Obama between indignation and embarrassment
Barack Obama is embarrassed once again: the Grand Jury's decision only deepens a wound that America has reopened in Ferguson: "We are facing a problem that affects the whole world. America. In this country until everyone is treated equally before the law, this will be a problem. And my job as president is to solve it. "

The difficult role of Mayor De Blasio
While the Department of Justice promises a new investigation into the conduct of Daniel Pantaleo, the anger of the city of New York remains to be managed by Bill De Blasio: the mayor, newly elected, had promised to improve relations between black New Yorkers and the police. If on the one hand he immediately asked the police chief Bill Bratton to work in this direction, on the other he comments: "It is a decision that the city did not want" and invites his son, African American, to "be particularly careful in meeting with police". 

Garner's wife: no to Pantaleo's apologies
Like Darren Wilson - the agent who killed the unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown - Daniel Pantaleo also testified before the Grand Jury, which was rare enough for "civilians" but that happens quite often to who wears the uniform. In the police for eight years, he continues to say he is not guilty and with a note asked Garner's family to accept his condolences. I do not accept Pantaleo's apology, his wife said instead: "They leave me indifferent, he is still at work and takes his salary while my husband is underground - he says - and I don't know how to support my children".