Protests in response to a grand jury’s decision not to indict NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the chokehold death of Eric Garner were expected Wednesday night, and some worry they may disrupt the annual Rockefeller Center tree lighting ceremony.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio canceled plans to attend the event shortly after the grand jury decision was announced.
Garner, a 43-year-old black father of six, died after being put in a chokehold by a white NYPD officer who stopped him on suspicion of selling loose cigarettes. An
autopsy found the cause of death to be homicide resulting from the chokehold and the compression of his chest by police officers.
Protesters were planning to organize at New York City's Union Square and
march to Rockefeller Center, according to Gothamist.
De Blasio released a statement Wednesday calling for peace.
“Today’s outcome is one that many in our city did not want. Yet New York City owns a proud and powerful tradition of expressing ourselves through non-violent protest,” he said in the statement. “We trust that those unhappy with today’s grand jury decision will make their views known in the same peaceful, constructive way. We all agree that demonstrations and free speech are valuable contributions to debate, and that violence and disorder are not only wrong — but hurt the critically important goals we are trying to achieve together.”
The no-indictment announcement in Garner's death came a little more than a week after the same outcome in Ferguson, Missouri, where a grand jury decided not to press charges against white officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of unarmed black teen Michael Brown.
Twitter users expressed their frustrations.
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