BY ZACH WILLIAMS | Protesters took to the streets of Manhattan on the evening of Wed., Dec. 3, hours after a Staten Island grand jury’s decision not to indict Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo — who placed a fatal chokehold on Eric Garner, an unarmed black man.
Several hundred people gathered at Union Square and Times Square to voice their outrage.
Protesters would march as far north as W. 72nd St. and as far south as the Brooklyn Bridge in the subsequent eight hours — blocking traffic, staging sit-ins and receiving support from stalled motorists along the way. Activists also staged a “die-in” at Grand Central Station in the early evening.
“I guess a lot of people had hope that we would at least have a trial,” said Von Damien Green, a resident of Harlem. “But I guess it’s just the built-up frustration from all of the disappointments that have gone on lately with the people who are supposed to protect us.”
The city’s Medical Examiner ruled Garner’s death a homicide, due to neck compression from the chokehold, along with chest compression while he was on the ground being restrained by police. Contributing factors also included asthma, heart disease, obesity and cardiovascular disease.
Nine days before, a grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri, had announced that Darren Wilson, a police officer who shot Michael Brown and subsequently resigned, would not face criminal charges. Since Nov. 24, demonstrations against police brutality and institutionalized racism in America ensued — including a Dec. 1 high school student-led march from Union Square to Times Square.
A statement from the NAACP expressed “disappointment” over the Garner decision, but added that the fight would continue to hold accountable police who kill people of color.
“The grand jury’s decision does not mean a crime was not committed in Staten Island, New York, and it does not mean we are done fighting for Eric Garner,” Cornell William Brooks, NAACP president, said in the statement.
Pantaleo could still face federal charges following the announcement by Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday that the Department of Justice would conduct its own investigation of the Garner case.
Holder, like Mayor Bill de Blasio and other elected officials, urged calm on the part of New Yorkers disappointed by the Garner grand jury decision.
“Today’s outcome is one that many in our city did not want,” the mayor said in a statement. “Yet New York City owns a proud and powerful tradition of expressing ourselves through nonviolent protest.”
Rioting and looting erupted in Ferguson last week in response to the grand jury decision not to charge Wilson. Although the Dec. 3 New York City march was overwhelmingly peaceful, anger toward law enforcement was higher compared to other recent protests in the city.
Scuffles erupted on W. 50th St. when dozens of police officers blocked the march from reaching Rockefeller Center, where the tree-lighting ceremony was being held. Police arrested at least one protester at the Sixth Ave. intersection.
From there, the crowd headed west. Curious tourists took photos while patrons of one restaurant divided their attention between cable news analysis of the grand jury announcement and the march of about 1,000 people moving past.
The marchers chanted: “Hands Up! Don’t Shoot!,” “Black Lives Matter!” and “Whose Streets? Our Streets!” among other slogans.
At Broadway, they took control of the street and marched to Columbus Circle where they sat in the street. Then they moved toward the Hudson River, reaching 12th Ave. near the Manhattan Cruise Terminal.
Traffic stopped on the busy avenue as about 1,000 people swarmed the street. Police soon caught up and attempted to reroute traffic. Nonetheless, traffic remained stalled there for about an hour.
Eventually, they moved east at W. 72 St. at about 9:45 p.m. Some in the crowd wanted to go to Harlem, but the critical mass of protesters instead turned south.
By 10:30 p.m. their numbers had fallen by half — but the march continued on. They went back to Columbus Circle, then Times Square and Penn Station, blocking traffic and conducting sit-ins every few blocks.
Eventually, a group of about 200 people would reach the Brooklyn Bridge via the West Village and Chinatown. Police did not prevent protesters from accessing the bridge’s eastbound lane, but as the march approached Brooklyn, police issued a warming that the protesters were blocking traffic and would be arrested if they did not move forward.
Another scuffle soon broke out. One officer arrested a woman by wrapping his arm around her neck and forcing her to the ground in a manner similar to the police maneuver utilized by Pantaleo against Garner. Police arrested several others on the bridge at about 1 a.m.
Marchers interviewed said that the eight hours of rabblerousing highlighted popular discontent with the treatment of minorities by the New York Police Department and law enforcement nationwide.
“I’m just happy to be a part of it and to be making a stand against a system that needs to be changed,” said Ashley Young, a resident of Flatbush, Brooklyn. “This is hopefully going to push us in the right direction.”
