On Sunday, activist Rev. Al Sharpton told worshippers at Riverside Church that he was appalled at the way police handled the arrest of Eric Garner, which reportedly led to his death.
Two EMTs and two paramedics have reportedly been barred from responding from 911 calls after video footage revealed what many have criticized as a lax effort in attempts to save the life of Eric Garner who was choked by police during his arrest Thursday.
Police suspected Garner had been selling untaxed cigarettes when they approached the 43-year-old Staten Island father of six. Garner told police that he didn’t do anything and asked to be left alone. When cops attempted to place handcuffs on Garner, a struggle ensued and Garner was choked by one of the officers. Garner can be heard on the video footage saying repeatedly “I can’t breathe.”
According to the Associated Press, The New York Police Department noted Saturday that two of the four officers involved in Garner’s arrest have been demoted to desk duty pending an investigation and one has lost his gun and badge.
“None of them said, ‘Let’s stop. He can’t breathe,'” Sharpton told the churchgoers, New York Daily News notes. “Even if police procedures don’t kick in, when does your sense of humanity kick in? Have we gotten so cold?”
The Daily News notes that Sharpton compared Garner’s death with the death of Ernest Sayon, a 23-year-old Staten Island man who died from a head injury after a struggle with NYPD cops in 1994.
“There’s a lot different 20 years later,” Sharpton told the congregation, the Daily News reports. “There is video this time.”
Sharpton also noted that New York leaders, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton have to address the community’s anger over Garner’s death.
Information from The Associated Press and The New York Daily News have contributed to this report.
Not a Chokehold! Trapped diaphragm due to abdominal fat in prone restraint.