Erika Garner speaking at last Wednesday’s rally in Union Square. Her father, Eric Garner, died last summer in Staten Island while being arrested for selling loose cigarettes. Photos by Zach Williams
BY ZACH WILLIAMS | Police showed little tolerance for #BlackLivesMatter activists who took to the streets in New York City on Wed., April 29, in a renewed push to bring attention to police violence against people of color.
About 1,000 people attended a rally that evening at Union Square as activists struck a more forceful tone than in prior demonstrations, when police and activists alike had largely avoided conflict beyond isolated cases. Several speakers remarked that activists should disregard warnings from the New York Police Department (disseminated via fliers and loudspeaker) that protesters would be arrested if they marched in the streets.
One group broke off from the Union Square rally and wound up marching down Seventh Ave. in Times Square.
“We’re exercising our constitutional rights and will ignore [the warnings],” said Akua, an organizer with Millions March NYC who declined to give her last name.
The event was in solidarity with activists in Baltimore, where protests and rioting erupted following the April 19 death of a young black man, Freddie Gray, following an injury sustained under unclear circumstances while in police custody after an arrest for possession of a switchblade. Gray’s death followed the fatal shooting on April 4 of Walter Scott by a police officer in South Carolina, which inspired #BlackLivesMatters activists to congregate at Union Square on April 14 in what had been their most high-profile demonstration in months.
Speakers on Wednesday included several relatives of victims of police violence, including Erica Garner, whose father, Eric, died last summer in Staten Island during an attempted arrest for selling loose cigarettes.
Hertencia Petersen told the crowd that the movement should confront elected officials, such as Mayor de Blasio and President Obama — both of whom, she noted, counted on the black vote during election season but have yet to adequately address the underlying reasons for police-related deaths, in her opinion.
Police kept close to the protesters, and began making arrests as soon as they spilled into the street.
“The injustice that has been prominent against black and brown lives in urban communities must end,” Peterson said. “N.Y.P.D. and all police departments worldwide have unjustified, preconceived attitudes and opinions toward black and brown lives, and their work is unacceptable and they must be held accountable.”
Rookie Police Officer Peter Liang fatally shot Peterson’s nephew, Akai Gurley, in the stairwell of an East New York housing project last November. Liang was indicted for manslaughter in February — in notable contrast to other cases, such as the police-involved killings of Garner and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, where the lack of indictments against the officers inspired the birth of the movement late last year.
Up until April 29, police had largely let them march in the streets on many occasions. But on Wednesday, they took a harder line. As the mass of activists made their way out of Union Square at about 7 p.m., they soon found dozens of police blocking their way about halfway down W. 17th St. The first dozen of at least 100 arrests that night occurred as police first herded the crowd onto opposite sidewalks, then split them into quarters at the intersection of 17th St. and Union Square West.
The energy of the march seemed deflated at that moment, with some activists expressing dismay that the action had met its match so quickly in the form of aggressive police crowd control. Activists noted that they understood the passion behind rioting, which took place in Baltimore after Gray’s death, but added that activists in New York City have not participated in such behavior.
Police making an arrest near Union Square. By the end of the night, more than 140 people had been arrested.
“Certain parts of the media just portrays our African-American brothers and sisters as criminals and thugs and n—— and just looting and messing up the community,” said Taven Gibson, 23, a Harlem resident. “Yes, [rioting is] wrong but that’s one of our ways of expressing how we feel.”
By 7:30 p.m. — after about a half hour of inaction — the activists split into separate marches, with one group wending its way to the West Side, through Chelsea to Times Square, where they rejoined other marchers. Police lined up along a cross street as the protesters filled Times Square before continuing south along Seventh Ave.
The night’s biggest clashes erupted just south of Times Square, when activists began marching in the street again. Police soon pushed them back with billy clubs and shoves, and made arrests. The protesters then began turning westbound on W. 43rd St. in an effort to evade the police. Further clashes and arrests transpired in the vicinity, including the arrest of this reporter for allegedly obstructing traffic while taking photographs.
There were reports of some protesters throwing bottles at police after protesters blocked the Holland Tunnel and the West Side Highway near Canal St. In addition, the commander of the 13th Precinct was reportedly hit in the head with a stick and suffered a cut under his jaw.
Frustrated activists said earlier that while police were succeeding in controlling the march, such protests would continue, as well as political maneuvering behind the scenes in the coming months.
“We are going to our local, state and federal to discuss reform around policing,” said Monica Dennis, one of the speakers at the Union Square rally, in an interview. “We are working on various campaigns, and there is public direct action. So this will continue, continue to accelerate and you will see more and more of us throughout the summer.”
