EULALIA MORRISON
Argumentative Blog Post
March 25, 2016
POLICE BRUTALITY IS WRONG!!!
During the trial the police officer who killed Eric Garner got off the hook. His wife feels like her world just sunk. But somewhere along the line everyone knew that the officer would not be charged guilty. "I kind of expected it because I didn't really think that he would get a fair trial on Staten Island from day one," said Garner's wife, Esaw Garner on Wednesday. "I felt it in my heart that he just wasn't going to get a fair trial, with all the things that they were trying to crucify him with." Having the officer not go to jail had the people upset and the wife will not let a day go by that she is not avenging his death. ¨My husband's death will not be in vain," she said. "As long as I have a breath in my body, I will fight the fight until the very end." The topic that I chose was the Eric Garner case. He was an african american man that got accused of selling untaxed smokes. When he refused to go to jail the officer put him in a chokehold and he died an hour after that happened. The officer should be held responsible for the death of Eric Garner. My reasons are, “One cop uses a chokehold that is not supposed to be used and slams Garner’s face into the ground,” he used chokehold on him which was banned already in New york, and he wasn’t a serious threat to anyone. He didn’t have a weapon. He did not attack the police officers or threaten their safety.
One important reason for the officer should be responsible for the death of Eric Garner is that, “One cop uses a chokehold that is not supposed to be used and slams Garner’s face into the ground.” In an interview about Eric Garnerś death, Davis explains that a chokehold is banned in NYC. Sean Davis says that ¨As the video shows, the officer clearly caused the death of Eric Garner, who was alive until the officer put him in a chokehold, a move which is banned by the NYPD for good reason.¨ (Davis 2). This means that if the police officer had never their hands on him he would be alive. This confirms the reason that the officer should be held responsible for Eric Garner's death because it is just unfair.
The second argument for the officer should be responsible for the death of Eric Garner is that he used chokehold on him which was banned already in New york. In the article where I got my evidence from there was this quote from a different article (that has the link on it) that I used as my evidence. Sean Davis recalls that, ”¨The New York City Police Department has issued an order banning the use of chokeholds, the restraining maneuvers that cut off the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain and have been blamed in the deaths of suspects here and around the nation.¨(Davis 2)”. This means that the NYPD banned chokeholds. This supports the argument that the officer should be held responsible for Eric Garner's death, because how are you going to use a move that your own job got rid of?
Perhaps the most powerful argument for the officer should be held responsible for Eric Garner's death is that he wasn’t a serious threat to anyone. He didn’t have a weapon. He did not attack the police officers or threaten their safety. In an article about Eric Garner’s death the author tells us that Eric Garner didn’t do anything to harm them. Sean Davis exclaims that, “he wasn’t a serious threat to anyone. He carried no weapons. He did not shove or attack any police officers in such a way to be considered an immediate threat to their health and safety.” (Davis 1). This shows us that they put him in a chokehold when he didn’t have something to use as a weapon against them. This confirms that the argument the officer should be held responsible for Eric Garner's death because an officer onlys puts their hands on someone when they threaten to hurt them. But Eric Garner did not do anything to hurt them.
While it’s clear that the officer should be held responsible for eric garner's death others may say that the officer should not be held responsible for eric garner's death because Eric Garner was a career petty criminal who’d experienced dozens of arrests, but had learned nothing from them. He was on the street July 17, selling untaxed cigarettes. Jim Meyers argues that ” Garner, 43, had history of more than 30 arrests since 1980. He’d been arrested on charges including assault and grand larceny.¨(Meyers 1)”. Although it’s true that he has been arrested more than 30 times this is a minor detail in comparison to the fact that it was overdoing it by putting him in a chokehold. The fact that Eric Garner getting arrested more than 30 times shows that the police aren’t doing there job right because there are people in the world who kill innocent people for no reason and they're still alive, but Eric Garner is not. Which only strengthens my claim that the officer should be held responsible for eric garner's death.
While it’s obvious that the officer should be held responsible for eric garner's death some people believe that the officer should not be held responsible for eric garner's death because Many argue that Garner’s weight and not the chokehold caused his death. You will hear a lot about his health problems (asthma and diabetes). Jim Meyers says”But Garner, who was 6-foot-3 and weighed 350 pounds, suffered from a number of health problems, including heart disease, severe asthma, diabetes, obesity, and sleep apnea.”(Meyers 2). Even though Eric Garner is over weighted and has many problems is true, this does nothing to detract from the argument that the police officer put him in a chokehold. The fact that Eric Garner is unhealthy shows nothing. Which only strengthens my claim that the officer should be held responsible for eric garner's death because doesn’t anybody think about how much of a coincident it is that the same day that he is put into a chokehold he dies an hour later.
As you can see, the officer should be held responsible for eric garner's death. To sum up, Eric Garner wasn’t a serious threat to anyone, he had no weapon to use against them, and they put an illegal chokehold on him. Even though, some people say that Garner had a bunch of arrest, many other people think the punishment doesn’t fit the crime. And they say that he was unhealthy and had a lot of problems, but that does not matter because after Eric Garner was put in a chokehold he died an hour later. Police brutality is a critical issue because as we have seen so far all of the attacks have been on african-americans and it’s not okay because we are all the same no matter the skin color. To stop police brutality we all need to do is stand up for what you believe in and when someone knocks you down you get right back up.
Works Cited
Federalist”. The Federalist, December 3,2014. Web. February 18,2016.
December 4,2014. Web. March 23,2016.
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