Do you know why they refer to a police badge as a shield? Because it defends against liability even when you murder somebody:
A grand jury has not charged a New York City police officer over the death of Eric Garner, who died after being placed in a chokehold by the officer.
Does anybody remember the heinous crime Garner committed that lead to officer killjoy murdering him? That’s right, he sold an untaxed cigarette. Everybody who has ever claimed that the state doesn’t kill people for not paying taxes can kindly shut the fuck up now.
What makes this ruling even more egregious is that the coroner ruled the act homicide:
Footage of the incident shows New York Police Department Officer Daniel Pantaleo placing Garner in the chokehold that was the main cause of death according to the coroner, who further ruled the death a “homicide.” (Police at the scene initially claimed that the asthmatic, 350-pound Garner had suffered a heart attack). Like Wilson, Pantaleo was not indicted.
That probably has something to do with the fact that even the New York Police Department (NYPD), one of the most psychopathic police departments in this country, prohibits officers from using choke holds:
Yet clearly something has gone horribly wrong when a man lies dead after being confronted for selling cigarettes to willing buyers. Especially since, as even Bratton has acknowledged, the chokehold applied by the restraining officer is prohibited by the NYPD’s own rulebook. Does the commissioner really control his officers, and is it time to rethink nanny state policies that create flourishing underground markets?
But the grand jury decided it was all good, which raises an important point. People, especially the tough on crime crowd, like to claim that grand juries are examples of justice at work but in reality they’re just another arm of the state meant to intimidate the people into rolling over. In fact it’s very rare for grand juries to not indite, unless the accused has a shield of course.