The horrible irony is that Eric wasn’t even
the target that day. A fight had broken out in the neighborhood, and
someone called the police for help.
Eric, the 6’3” father of six, known to the
neighborhood as a ‘gentle giant’, helped break up that fight and calm
everyone down.
NYPD
arrived on the scene after the commotion was over, and instead of
moving along they began to harass the good samaritan who stepped in to
help.
Eric was accused
of selling untaxed cigarettes. They argued with him. As he became
frustrated, they tackled him to the ground without
cause.
The officers pinned him down using an
illegal chokehold maneuver, and Eric repeatedly cried out
“I can’t breathe!” until he
died.
In the
weeks that followed, those words became a rallying cry – one that
would resurface six years later in the murder of George
Floyd.
Ten years after Eric’s murder, we are no
closer to the radical reordering of prisons and policing that his
death demanded.
Despite millions of people marching and demanding change, both
Democrats and Republicans continue dumping billions of dollars into
militarizing the police.
Instead of answering the demands of citizens who speak out
against state sanctioned violence, they are building
Cop Cities all across America
to train cops as dystopian super soldiers suppressing free speech and
the right to protest – training organized and provided by Israeli
soldiers, in many cases.
That changes with
us.
Our campaign worked with activists,
advocates, experts, and community leaders to put forth a
transformative agenda on prisons
and policing.
When elected, I
will push Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. But that is just the
beginning.
I will end
qualified immunity – a practice first established to protect members
of the KKK — that currently acts as a shield for police brutality and
prosecutorial misconduct.
I will bring ALL police misconduct allegations under federal
authority so cops with repeated allegations of abuse and violence
can’t shop for a new city to brutalize when they’ve worn out their
welcome in another.
We will do all of this and a
whole lot more, and we will have justice for Eric – whose legacy still
lives on through his family’s advocacy.
A few months ago, Eric’s mother Gwen opened
the first office location of the E.R.I.C. Initiative Foundation on
Staten Island. |
