Justice Department to open civil rights investigation in Eric Garner case
Published time: December 03, 2014 23:29
Edited time: December 04, 2014 00:57
The US Justice Department announced that it is opening a federal civil rights investigation into the death of Eric Garner, who was killed by a chokehold at the hands of police.
US Attorney General Eric Holder made the announcement Wednesday evening, in the wake of a grand jury decision not to indict the police officer responsible for placing Garner in a chokehold. The investigation will consider whether or not police violated Garner’s civil rights.
Prosecutors will conduct an independent, thorough, and fair investigation, Holder said, including a “complete review” of material gathered during the local investigation.
In order to bring charges against New York Police Department Officer Daniel Pantaleo, the Justice Department will need enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Garner’s rights were violated, and that Pantaleo did so “willfully.”
A man holds a banner as he takes part during a protest in support of Eric Garner at Union Square on December 3, 2014 in New York City.(AFP Photo / Kena Betancur)
Garner was killed back in July, when multiple officers targeted him for selling loose, untaxed cigarettes. The 43-year-old Staten Island man was placed in a chokehold by police who tried to arrest him, then taken to the ground. Video footage of the incident was captured by a bystander, during which Garner can be heard yelling that he can’t breathe, but it doesn’t seem as if officers responded to his complaints.
His death was declared a homicide and a grand jury was convened to determine whether Pantaleo would face criminal charges. On Wednesday, however, the jury decided not to indict him.
Grand Jury Declines To Indict NYPD Officer In Chokehold Death Of Eric Garner
by Christopher Mathias and Lilly Workneh
Huffington Post
12/03/2014 2:30 pm EST
[VIDEO]
A grand jury in Staten Island voted Wednesday not to indict New York City police officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner, a black man who died after being placed in a chokehold.
Garner, 43, died July 17 while he was being arrested for selling untaxed cigarettes. In a video of the arrest, which has since gone viral, Garner screams “I can’t breathe!” multiple times until his body goes limp. A medical examiner later said that he died of a chokehold, a move that is banned by the NYPD, and ruled his death a homicide.
Garner’s attorney said Wednesday that the “family is very upset and disappointed that these officers are not getting indicted for any criminal conduct.”
Pantaleo said in a statement Wednesday that he regretted Garner’s death.
“I became a police officer to help people and to protect those who can’t protect themselves,” Pantaleo said. “It is never my intention to harm anyone and I feel very bad about the death of Mr. Garner. My family and I include him and his family in our prayers and I hope that they will accept my personal condolences for their loss.”
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called Garner’s death “a terrible tragedy that no family should have to endure,” and said he would continue to work to decrease the use of excessive force among officers.
“This is a subject that is never far from my family’s minds – or our hearts,” he said. “And Eric Garner’s death put a spotlight on police-community relations and civil rights – some of most critical issues our nation faces today.”
The decision in the Garner case comes just over a week after a grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri, declined to indict officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. A series of protests erupted nationwide immediately following the decision in Ferguson, and New York officials braced for similar protests on Wednesday.
VIDEO — Media Goofs, Obvious Advanced Knowledge of Ferguson Grand Jury Decision
by Melissa Melton
Truthstream Media
Nov 24, 2014
(Truthstream Media)
While I was watching the supposedly “live” feed from Clayton, MO where the St. Louis Prosecutor was set to release the announcement of the grand jury’s decision, I noticed Drudge Report already had a link to a USA Today article declaring no charges…the story with the no verdict went out a full 15 minutes before the prosecutor’s “live” press conference announcing it.
OBVIOUSLY the media had advanced notice here.
In fact, right on cue after the decision was announced, someone set a police car on fire.
Via Kev Baker, one of our fellow hosts on Truth Frequency Radio:
Truthstream FB Friend Craig Wood reported, “At approximately 9pm as seen on live footage Ferguson police started an advance and started gassing and firing rubber bullets at a relatively peaceful crowd. The advance continues as I make this post.”
This whole thing is more staged than a Broadway show, and apparently the singing and dancing has already begun.
For more on who is pulling the strings in Ferguson:
Melissa Melton is a co-founder of TruthstreamMedia.com. She is an experienced researcher, graphic artist and investigative journalist with a passion for liberty and a dedication to truth. Her aim is to expose the New World Order for what it is — a prison for the human soul from which we must break free.
PODCAST — The Ottawa “Shooting” : A False-Flag to Stop Us Talking About False-Flags? – Non-Aligned Media
by Joshua Blakeney
Non-Aligned Media
Nov 6, 2014
[playlist]
I was interviewed on November 6, 2014 by Dr. Kevin Barrett about the suspicious and conveniently timed Ottawa “shooting” of October 22nd. During the interview I drew attention to the implications the perceived false-flag would have for civil liberties in Canada. During the interview I read the following three paragraphs from a Globe and Mail article entitled “How Canada’s Terror Laws Could Change”:
Tabled Monday, the “ Protection of Canada from Terrorists Act” boosts the powers of Canada’s domestic spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), to share information and operate internationally. It also gives new powers for CSIS to keep its sources anonymous. The bill had been meant to be tabled on Wednesday, the same day Michael Zehaf-Bibeau shot and killed a soldier at the National War Memorial before storming the Centre Block building on Parliament Hill, where he died. . .
Bill C-44 may not be the end of it. The federal government continues to eye what new powers it will seek for police. Government ministers have mused openly about lowering how much evidence is needed to place a terror suspect under a peace bond, which allows officials to closely monitor the suspect even if they don’t have enough evidence to lay a charge. Other changes could include making it illegal to write online statements that support a terror group and expanding powers for “preventative arrest,” or arrest without a charge. . .
On the same day as Mr. Couture-Rouleau‘s attack, the House passed Bill C-13. The government refers to as an anti-cyberbullying bill but it goes well beyond that. The bill contains broad new police powers, including several new warrants for surveillance, tracking and gathering of bank information that critics have said will, in some cases, require little evidence to get. The issue was raised again this week when the RCMP Commissioner called for certain evidentiary thresholds to be lowered.
The above statements provide a flavour of the changes that are to come in Canada as a result of the implausible official interpretation of the recent events. I noted that the proposed law against “glorifying or condoning terrorism” will enable the state to criminalize anybody who expresses verbal or written support for Palestinian resistance organizations whom under International Law are entitled to resist illegal occupation. The Netanyahu government’s tendentious analysis of Middle East politics is now to provide the framework for Canadian jurisprudence, it seems.
Additionally, one can imagine the Zionist thought-police in Canada portraying questioning the official explanations of terrorist incidents as a form of “condoning” or “glorification” of terrorism. Hence it is possible that the Ottawa “shooting” will be remembered as the false-flag that prevented skeptics from discussing false-flags by enabling the enactment of such censorious laws.
I also noted that while Canada’s government is throwing around phrases like “radicalization” and “extremism” that they are the ones who are on the extremity of the United Nations, where they invariably go against the international consensus during votes relating to the terrorism of Israel.
Fortunately, Canadian professors Anthony Hall, Peter Dale Scott and John McMurtry have all published methodical and well-researched pieces drawing attention to the problems with the official explanation of the Ottawa “shooting”. They are all worth reading.
Written by Joshua Blakeney
VIDEO — G20 Brisbane: Police State Lockdown Begins – Asia-Pacific Perspective
The Asia-Pacific Perspective
Nov 13, 2014
Gun Confiscation Begins in NY Via Dead Family Members — videos included
Screenshot: WGRZ Chan 2 News
by Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
Nov 14, 2014
Gun confiscation has indeed begun in New York.
This is not an over-hyped claim although this confiscation has yet to take the form of kicking down doors and SWAT teams.
Yet.
Still, rarely do such forms of tyranny come in one fell swoop with all the alarm bells ringing and the requisite flashing neon sign declaring a police state, apparently the only thing that might make Americans wake up and smell the fascism.
In the absence of that presentation, however, Buffalo police are doing the next best thing – tracking down gun owners, investigating their “permits,” and confiscating their guns if possible.
Buffalo police are now checking the records of “pistol permit holders” to see if the holders are still living. If the permit holder is no longer living, the police will investigate “what happened to their gun or guns.”
Under the guise of “illegal weapons” brought in to New York from Pennsylvania, police have informed reporters that their biggest problem in terms of guns used in crimes involved guns that had been stolen from private properties during burglaries.
Of course, police made no mention of Fast and Furious or of the fact that police are unable (and also unwilling) to investigate and respond to violent crimes because their departments are too busy enforcing the drug war, writing tickets, shooting family pets, and manning DUI checkpoints. Instead, the Buffalo Police’s response to the fact that burglaries are being committed is not to crack down on the burglars, but to eliminate the property the burglars want to take.
Channel 2 News reported that “Police feel that, in some cases, families are holding on to weapons, even after the person who bought them originally has died. [The horror!!!!!!] So now they are actually looking for those situations.”
PN 