The NYPD blocked the way for protesters trying to reach Rockefeller Center (and the tree-lighting ceremony).
BY ZACH WILLIAMS | Protesters took the streets of Manhattan on Dec. 3, hours after a Staten Island grand jury’s decision not to indict Daniel Pantaleo — the NYPD officer who placed a fatal chokehold on Eric Garner, an unarmed black man (the city’s medical examiner had ruled Garner’s death a homicide).
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.”
Nine days before, a grand jury in Ferguson, MO 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 decision, but added that the fight would continue to hold accountable police who kill people of color.
A crowd quickly formed at Union Square following the announcement that NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo would not be indicted in the death of Eric Garner. By 5:30 p.m. about 250 people had assembled.
“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. Yet New York City owns a proud and powerful tradition of expressing ourselves through non-violent protest,” de Blasio said in a statement.
Rioting and looting erupted in Ferguson last week in response to the grand jury decision not to charge Wilson. Although the Dec. 3 NYC march was overwhelmingly peaceful, vitriol towards law enforcement was relatively acute compared to other recent protests in the city.
After marching on the West Side Highway as far north as W. 72nd St., hundreds of demonstrators turned south and arrive at Times Square at about 10:30 p.m.
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 Avenue of the Americas intersection.
From there, the crowd headed west. Curious tourists took pictures 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.
They chanted: “Hands Up! Don’t Shoot!,” “Back 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 a thousand people swarmed the street. Police soon caught up and attempted to reroute traffic. In response, protesters changed directions and moved north. But progress would not be easy, as gaps grew in their ranks and police continued to apply pressure on them. Nonetheless, traffic remained stalled there for about an hour.
After bouncing back and forth between moving north and south along the West Side Highway, they moved east at W. 72 St. at about 9:45 p.m. Some within 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 was still hours from concluding. In that time, they marched to Columbus Circle, 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 eastbound lane of the bridge, but as the march approached Brooklyn, they issued a warming to them that they 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.
Many people in the crowd vocalized their dissatisfaction with NYPD throughout the night. However, some interviewed by Chelsea Now said that the eight hours of rabble-rousing went without a hitch in highlighting popular discontent with the treatment of minorities by NYPD 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.”
Additional protests were scheduled for Dec. 4.
