“NYPD,” one sign read, “We saw something. Now we’re saying something.” On Saturday, the streets surrounding Saint George Terminal on Staten Island were crowded with peaceful protesters, some wearing a square of pink cloth with the words “unarmed civilian.” As Linda Sarsour, the head of the Arab American Association of New York, joked, “This is probably the most action Staten Island’s ever had.”
The rally was organized by Reverend Al Sharpton and his National Action Network, calling for police accountability in the wake of Eric Garner’s death. Garner was an asthmatic black man, stopped by an NYPD officer in Staten Island this July. The officer attempted to restrain him, and when Garner refused, put him in an illegal chokehold which resulted in his suffocation. The incident was caught on video by a bystander, but the officers involved have not been charged.
The march travelled from Tompkinsville Park to a stage set up at Richmond Terrace, a few blocks away. Present were faith leaders, members of the labor union 1199SEIU, the NAACP, the Worker’s Family Party, and a police estimate of over 2,000 protesters, including the family of Eric Garner. The march began at about 1:30 pm, and ended at 4 pm.
Speakers at the rally made clear that the event was not anti- police. Sharpton stressed his support for the NYPD, comparing the officers involved in Garner’s death to “bad apples.” Instead, he called for police accountability, arguing that both the protestors and the NYPD were fighting for the same cause, enforcement of the law. “In New York City, it is unlawful for police to use a chokehold. So a crime was committed,” said the chapter head of the NAACP, Hazel Dukes. Others called for a federal investigation, doubting the efficacy of the local police department.
Speakers also emphasized the unfortunate familiarity of the Garner case, pointing to other black victims of police brutality. A direct connection was made with the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, this August. Sharpton himself has worked to promote justice in the Brown case, travelling extensively between Ferguson and New York City. Protesters raised their arms, chanting, “hands up, don’t shoot,” in what has become a national symbol of solidarity with the protesters in Ferguson.
In addition to recent incidents, connections were made to black victims of police brutality throughout New York’s history. The message was clear: Garner’s death was evidence of a larger pattern. “This is not in a vaccuum,” said Sharpton.
David Patterson, former governor of New York, recalled Clifford Glover, the 10-year-old shot to death by an NYPD officer in 1973. Among many other cases, he also mentioned James Powell, the 15-year-old whose death at the hands of police started the Harlem Riots in 1989.
Patterson also shared a personal anecdote, telling how his father was pistol-whipped by police officers in Brooklyn in 1942. He said his father went on to become the first black Secretary of State of New York, affixing an uplifting message to a timeline of violence and tragedy.
Sharpton added to this spirit of progress, remembering a similar march he attended twenty-five years ago. He said bananas and watermelons were thrown at the protesters, and they were called “monkeys” and “the n-word.” He pointed out how different the current march was. “If we stay together,” he said, “we can change the world.”
The officers involved in Garner’s death have had their badges and weapons removed and have been placed on desk duty, a punishment most at the march view as too lax. Meanwhile, throughout the past two weeks, protests have erupted throughout the country, calling for justice in response to Michael Brown’s shooting.
Email me when Isabel Carey publishes or recommends stories