Defending State the Sanctioned Murder of Eric Garner

2) He was overweight - one of the more despicable defenses is to blame the corpse when he can no longer defend himself. That it was his weight or his asthma that really killed him and not the choke hold or knee to the back of the neck while he is screaming that he cannot breathe. In fact, the state of health of the victim should be taken into consideration by the arresting officers not used as a defense for killing him.

3) You don't know what it is like - you are right. I do not. Do you know why? I chose to not be a policeman. But the murderers in this video did choose to be policemen so they need to be judged as such. While we are at it I do not need to know how dangerous their job is. They chose the job. The cops here knew Mr. Garner as they had arrested him several times before. This was not an unknown situation with an unknown person. But even if it was that is still no excuse. I have heard the defense that the cops just wanted to make sure they go home to their families and therein lies the problem. Fifty years ago cops served the public. They knew that they died before we died. Today it is the reverse. They act like Sean Connery in the Untouchables - at the end of your shift make sure you go home alive. Combine that with the reverse philosophy of everyone is guilty until proven innocent and it is no wonder that Eric Garner does not get to go home to his family and his six children tonight.

I find it almost comical if it were not so sad when I hear police complain that they are not respected. This is why they are not respected. Not even so much that Eric Garner is dead. Mistakes happen and we are a forgiving society. No, the problem is the defending of it. The rubbing salt in the wounds of someone who is already dead. It is like when the Giuliani administration released the juvenile criminal records of Patrick Dorismond after they killed him. When the mayor was asked why he did so when it was illegal he said the law only applies to those who are alive. It is like when everyone tried to defend the assassination of Amadou Diallo for having the temerity to reach for his keys in the vestibule of his own house. It is like when the teachers union stands by their worst teachers. The police lose respect because they defend the indefensible. If you watch these videos and think that there was justification I worry for the state of your soul and I pray the police never get a bad read on your intentions.