Dear Officer
Pantaleo,
I am Eric
Garner, the man who died after you administered a choke hold on me. Why did you do such a thing? I understand I may have been breaking the law
by selling loose cigarettes, but do you think that was a reason to die? Now I am dead and you are receiving a bunch
of negative publicity because someone recorded your actions on their
smartphone. Why did you think it was
necessary for so many police officers to confront a man selling loose
cigarettes? Don’t you think you police
officers could be spending your time better fighting more severe crimes?
If I had the
chance to relive that day I would not have argued with all of you police
officers. Also I would not have chanted
“It Stops Today” during our interaction.
I have been watching this case develop from the afterlife because of all
the media attention this case has received.
From what I have learned now, I realize that aggressively chanting,
pulling my hands away from police, and arguing with police only gave the
officers involved reasons to believe I was resisting arrest and possibly
hostile. I do not agree! I do not think
I was being aggressive or hostile! But I do think that you policemen were
harassing me for an issue that was not an arrestable offense. I should have probably been issued a ticket or
summons to court, not tackled to the ground with a choke hold around my neck!
Anyway there
is nothing we can do about it now. We
cannot change the past. I do not hold a
grudge against you because I cannot believe that were actually trying to hurt
me. Hopefully all of the media attention
this case is getting will only force police officers in the future to really
consider their actions. I leave you with
this thought - You are here to serve and protect Officer Pantaleo, not attack
people committing misdemeanors.
Sincerely,
Eric Garner
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