The National Bar Association Responds To The Grand Jury’s Decision Not To Indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo In Death of Eric Garner
WASHINGTON, DC — The National Bar Association is questioning a Staten Island Grand Jury, considering the evidence presented before them, could reach the conclusion not to indict Daniel Pantaleo, a New York Police Officer involved in the death of Eric Garner.
On July 17, 2014, a video recorded by a bystander shows Officer Pantaleo placing a chokehold around Garner’s neck with his arm, while trying to restrain Garner with other officers. In the video, once he was restrained on the ground during the arrest, Garner can be heard telling officers, “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.”
“Today’s decision by the Grand Jury brings a great level of disappointment, as justice for yet another black unarmed male goes unanswered,” stated Pamela Meanes, President of the National Bar Association. “Within a week, this country has now been devastated with the lack of addressing issues of inequality and racial bias in policing, the justice system, and violence against members of minority communities,” says President Meanes.
The National Bar Association renews it call for the U.S. Department of Justice to pursue federal charges against Officer Pantaleo. “We will continue to fight for justice for Eric Garner and his family,” stated President Meanes.
Since Garner’s death, the National Bar Association has pushed for the passages of local, state and federal legislation related to:
- Requiring body and dash cameras;
- Stricter mental health testing and diversity training;
- Add definition to the terms excessive and elevation of force;
- Enact legislation making it a felony for a police officer to fail to report an officer engaged in police brutality.
In addition, the National Bar Association has hosted Town Hall meetings which were aimed to inform attendees of their Fourth Amendment (Search & Seizure) constitutional rights, whether it is legal to record police activity, and how citizens should behave/respond if and when they interface with police officers.
In wake of the decisions made today and last week, the National Bar Association is deeply concerned whether under the current legal standard a victim of excessive and/or deadly force by the hands of a police officer in America can receive fair and equal justice. Accordingly, the fight for justice continues and the National Bar Association is calling on every American citizen to demand the following:
JUSTICE FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN VICTIMS OF EXCESSIVE AND/OR DEADLY FORCE BY THE HANDS OF A POLICE OFFICER
1. Demand the United States Department of Justice Indict Darren Wilson and Daniel Pantaleo and the officers involved in the following deaths: Eugene Ellison, Bobby Moore and Chavis Carter (Little Rock, Arkansas), Ezell Ford and Omar Abrego (Los Angeles, CA), John Crawford (Beavercreek, OH), Clinton Allen, Jordan Baker and Kenneth Brian Releford (Houston, Texas), Marquise Jones (San Antonio, TX), Rodney Mitchell (Sarasota, FL)
2. How to Implement: Submit your demand by contacting the U.S. Department of Justice
By Mail
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
By Phone
Main Switchboard: (202) 514-2000
Comment Line: (202) 353-1555
By Email
Submit demands to: [email protected]
