New York, Dec 5 (IANS/EFE) A day after a grand jury exonerated the police officer who was responsible for the death of Eric Garner, there were fresh protests in New York demanding drastic changes in the judicial and police system.
"What is needed is a drastic change, from the first contact of the person with the police right up to the judicial system which includes judges and laws," said Lycia Ora, president elect of the National Lawyers Guild, and one of the thousands of protesters thronging Foley Square Thursday night.
Protests erupted after a grand jury declined to indict a white police officer, Daniel Pantaleo, caught on videotape applying a chokehold on Garner while trying to arrest him for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes July 17.
The African American ultimately died of asphyxiation.
While the US Department of Justice will be launching an independent investigation to determine if there was a violation of civil rights in the case of Eric Garner, the New York Police Department (NYPD) is conducting its internal investigation of Pantaleo's actions.
However, the demonstrators are not satisfied with such pre-established routes.
"There have been many times that they have done investigations and yet, here we are, in 2014, protesting against yet another death," Ora added.
Among the thousands of New Yorkers was Senator Gustavo Rivera who spoke against the "injustice" of the incident and asked for a "real change" and said that the Senate would be taking up measures aimed at bringing about a change in police conduct.
The demonstration, which had echoes in Washington DC, Boston and Pittsburgh, was a continuation of Wednesday's demonstrations in Times Square and Rockefeller Centre, two tourist hubs of the city, which ended with 83 people being arrested.
Fresh protests began Thursday evening at Foley Square with people chanting slogans such as Garner's dying words, "I can't breathe" or "Hands up, Don't shoot me", and others like "Ferguson is everywhere" or a simple "Justice".
The grand jury in Staten Island met for several weeks and heard testimonies from 50 witnesses besides considering four videos before they took the decision not to charge Pantaleo for Garner's death.
The rising tension between the people and the police after the grand jury's decision comes just two weeks after a similar decision in the Michael Brown case in which the jury exonerated another white police officer who killed a young unarmed African American in August.
--IANS/EFE
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