The New York Times editorial board is appalled by a Staten Island grand jury decision not to indict the police officer who chokeholded Eric Garner of Staten Island. Garner died shortly thereafter. We wrote about Garner when filmmaker Spike Lee produced a YouTube video comparing the man to his fictional character Radio Raheem from the movie ‘Do the Right Thing.’ Raheem is strangled after a fight over his boom box. Garner, who was unarmed and selling loose cigarettes on the street, perished after being dragged down the ground.
“This was vicious policing and an innocent man is dead,” the Times declared.