Top US justice official promises probe after NYC police chokehold death

Saturday, 6 December 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday promised a full investigation into the choking death of an unarmed black man by a white New York police officer as protests flared for a second day over a grand jury’s decision declining to bring criminal charges in the case.

Demonstrators stage a ‘die-in’ at an intersection during a demonstration against recent grand jury decisions not to indict police officers in the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, in Boston, Massachusetts December 4, 2014 Reaction to Wednesday’s decision not to indict officer Daniel Pantaleo for his role in the videotaped confrontation that left 43-year-old Eric Garner dead echoed a wave of outrage sparked nine days earlier by a similar outcome in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white policeman in Missouri. Pantaleo could still face disciplinary action from an internal police investigation, his lawyer said, adding that he expects that process to move quickly and that his client would be exonerated.

Demonstrators clash with police on 7th Avenue in Times Square as they protest a grand jury decision not to charge a New York policeman in the choking death of Eric Garner, in New York December 4, 2014 A departmental investigation will likely focus on whether Pantaleo employed a chokehold, banned by New York Police Department regulations, in restraining Garner as he and other officers sought to arrest him for illegally selling cigarettes on a sidewalk in July. In addition to triggering protests around the country, the New York and Missouri cases have re-ignited debate over a U.S. law enforcement system widely perceived to unfairly target and African Americans and other minorities. Speaking in Ohio, where he announced U.S. Justice Department findings of systematic excessive force by Cleveland’s police, Holder said officials must do more to repair the trust between police officers and the communities they patrol.

A demonstrator gestures as he and others protest outside the White House, following a Staten Island grand jury’s decision not to indict a New York police officer in the chokehold death of Eric Garner, in Washington December 4, 2014 The Cleveland investigation, which began in March 2013, gained prominence after a police officer there last month shot dead a 12-year-old boy who was carrying what turned out to be a pellet gun on a playground. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who took office in January promising to improve relations between minorities and police, told reporters on Thursday the city’s thousands of patrol officers would undergo extensive retraining. “The relationship between police and community has to change,” he told a news conference. “People need to know that black lives and brown lives matter as much as white lives.”

Phoenix police officer shoots dead unarmed black man during scuffle

Reuters: A Phoenix police officer shot to death an unarmed black man during a struggle and authorities said the officer believed the individual had a gun, in the latest fatal incident amid national turmoil over the policing of black communities. On Thursday night, some 200 demonstrators protested against the killing of 34-year-old Rumain Brisbon, marching to Phoenix police headquarters and blocking streets, broadcaster CBS5 reported. The Phoenix Police Department said Brisbon was sitting in a SUV outside a convenience store on Tuesday evening, and two witnesses told the officer the occupants of the vehicle were selling drugs. With police forces across the country under increased scrutiny over killing unarmed black men, Phoenix police said in a statement that its officer called for backup, and then saw Brisbon appear to remove something from the car’s back seat.