Two-Hour March Re-Routes Downtown Traffic

It's amazing that these protestors feign concern over a perceived disregard for black lives, and wave signs and chant that "black lives matter" only when a black man dies during an arrest or confrontation with a white police officer, while black-on-black killings in New Haven and elsewhere claim tens of thousands of black lives every year. Black deaths don't bother them and aren't worth their time and activism unless one of them is killed by a white cop? Also, many more white men are killed by both black and white cops in similar circumstances yet you don't see white people on the march chanting "white lives matter." Race has nothing to do with this, no more than it had to do with whites killed in confrontations with black cops.

One possible tactical step - people who see officers using excessive force or simply being rude could post the incident on SeeClickFix. (You can post anonymously.) I know that at least some of the NHPD district managers monitor SCF regarding criminal activities.

To be fair to the cops, I think it would also be appropriate to report instances where an officer has been particularly helpful.

All those so called protesters should have been arrested for Disorderly Conduct . You want to protest do it on the green, once you block the street your commiting a crime , Look up the State Statute 53a-182 with the intent to cause inconvenience, annoyance or alarm or recklessly creating the risk thereof, the actor obstructs vehicular or pedestrian traffic.

Bradley: SeeClickFix blocks comments like these. I tried to post a complaint about a rude cop last month, and they blocked it saying that it violated their terms of service

Oh my god, another white person willfully pretends not to see the difference between systemic discrimination and violence in arms of the state vs random gang violence and that race doesn't matter.

Time to debunk some racist arguments.

First one: the oft-used Fox News argument - "why focus on white cops killing people of color when there is a high percentage of black-on-black killings?" - is built on three racist premises.

Onto the next racist argument.

Another moth-eaten argument espoused by racists in America is that Eric Garner and Mike Brown (and the countless others who are gunned down by white cops) caused and deserved their own deaths because they "did not comply" with the white cop's orders.

This argument's premise is that a black person's life has such little value that he/she deserves to die if they simply refuse to do exactly what a white cop tells them.

[And if you, white person, just read that and thought "yep, they do deserve to die if they don't do what the police offer orders", then congratulations, you are a racist. Any sane person would be horrified if a cop killed their mother or father simply because they did not put their hands behind their back immediately when ordered. If that same horror isn't felt when seeing Eric Garner being choked to death, then the only reason can be that he's black and your parents are not.]

Needless to say, resisting arrest is not a capital offense – not that Eric Garner even was.



It's also worth pointing out that anyone who decries the nonviolent street protests of Eric Garner's and Mike Brown's death (as one poster did) would probably have also condemned the Civil Rights marches in the early 60s, and would probably have applauded the cops who used batons, firehoses, and dogs against those who were marching.

Understand this, the "Black Lives Matter" chant is an echo of the "I Am A Man" slogan from the Civil Rights protests. Sadly, too many people in the United States still don't accept that black lives have equal value to white lives. This is why these protests must happen.

It's so heartening to see young people out in the street, speaking their minds, condemning injustice. This country will be theres soon and it looks like they're beginning to not like what they see.

It's also worth pointing out that there ARE protests and rallies over violence in African-American communities, as Ta-Nahesi Coates points out at the Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/04/why-dont-black-people-protest-black-on-black-violence/255329/

Two years after Malik Jones was killed by an East Haven police Officer, Victoria Cooper was killed by a North Branford police officer, under similar circumstances.

No one marched to protest any perceived police brutality for Victoria. Perhaps because both the police officer and Victoria were/are white?

HMSS,

EG wasn't choked to death. He was still alive and breathing after the neck hold was released).

@Res1, then we should have a conversation with Ben Berkowitz et al. If the concern is a potential defamation suit against SCF, a solution could be to describe officer in general terms without naming him or her. SCF is a real asset to the community, but I would argue that a police officer using excessive force is at least as much of a problem as a streetlight that is not working.

The "a white person died no one protested" argument is always bizarre to me. It's meant as an indictment of Black people but really ends up as a critique of people who choose to stay silent. Why wouldn't Americans raise their voices in protest against an intrusion on our most fundamental rights? Doesn't that complacency speak volumes to why institutions like law enforcement continue to deprive people of their rights without impunity? And if memory serves I recall a number of protests after Professor Sam See died in lockup. Many of the same NHI posters denounced that as illegitimate and ineffective.

Protest is meant to be uncomfortable and distuptive. It's meant to agitate. Certainly those protesting the Vietnam War didn't wait for permission from society. Why should this be any different?

One more thing. The NHI is replete with stories about local vigils, rallies, forums, etc.to protest the more frequent occurrences of violence in this city. I've seen many stories on this site about organizations and community programs working to reduce crime and violence. That you are ignorant of or dismissive toward that only seems to enhance the need for events like large dieins/marches that force you to see them

Victoria Cooper was a 41 year old white female, mother of 2, when she was shot to death by white North Branford police officer Michael Breen while driving a car. Officer Breen was not indicted.

So I guess when the victim is white, the police officer was just doing his job that's why no one marched in protest.

Columbo,
If you knew about this and believed it to be a miscarriage of justice Why didn't you March or organize a protest on her behalf? Instead of criticizing how others express their discontent perhaps this is an occasion to reflect on why we keep silent about our own.

Robn,
Eric Garner died as a direct result of the cop's chokehold, as shown by the New York Medical Examiner (coroner), who ruled Garner's death a homicide. The cause of death was "compression of neck (chokehold), compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police."

If a family member of yours was shot and then died an hour later in hospital, my guess is that you would say that he was "shot to death" -- so why is it that you are desperately trying to say that Eric Garner was not choked to death? He died just one hour after the chokehold as a direct result of it.

Hmmm... why even focus on the semantics as opposed to actually decrying what happened as an unjust attack on an unarmed American? What is it that you're trying to avoid?

HMSS

Not direct, not semantics and not the same.

I get it; you want to be the most sensitive guy in New Haven, but save the hyperbole. People other than you have valid opinions that are neither racist nor fascist.

I was outraged by the killing of Travon Martin in Florida by a heavily armed civilian who escalated a situation and then shot him because of the escalation.

I was not outraged by the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson who didn't just resist arrest, but attempted to take an officers weapon.

I am outraged that young Tamir Rice was shot by Cleveland police who could have approached much more cautiously. (Also outraged that his parents would be give him a hyper realistic toy gun in an urban environment).

I'm reserving judgement on Eric Garner's death because, a) he had no right to illegally sell cigarettes or to resist arrest, b) it's not clear to me if he died because of his own underlying health conditions (something the police could not have known), from the impact of his fall, or solely from use of excessive force. Right now a choke hold doesn't seem like a candidate to me but compressive asphyxia (getting dog piled by the cops) might be.

BTW, how would you restrain such a large man? "Not choking him or sitting on him" would be a pithy answer but try to answer for real. What constitutes appropriate force when an opponent outweighs you 2X and is forcibly resistant? How many arrests do you think are made with the full voluntary cooperation of the arrestee? How long should an officer wait before using force? How many times is it acceptable for someone to swat away the hands of an officer before the officer uses force?

How many protests will it take to instill youths with the idea that it's OK to resist arrest, thus making this happen over and over again?

Robn,
I'm not going to bother to engage you in debate when you're utilizing the same racist premises to your arguments that I've already exposed in previous comments. Again, you posit that a black person's life has such little value that he/she deserves to die if they resist arrest.

HMSS,

My premise is that when anyone of any color escalates a situation with police who trying to take them into custody $&/! happens.

BTW I think it's pretty racist to label both Michael Brown and Eric Garner with the infantalizing "he was just a big gentle teddy bear" stereotype. So back at you.