The movement on increasing awareness and preventing police brutality in the U.S. took center stage in early 2014 when a grand jury refused to indict officer Darren Wilson, after firing a fatal shot at Michael Brown, after hearing him say several times, “Stop Firing I don’t have a gun.”
As we know since the slaughtering of Brown other cases have emerged. For example Akai Gurley, a father of two was slain while walking down the street with his girlfriend. Tamir Rice, a 12 year old boy was shot by a Cleveland police Officer while playing with a toy gun. The most recent case is Staten Island grand jury refused to indict the police officer responsible for the murder of Eric Garner.
July 14. A New York City Police Officer put Eric Garner, in what appeared to be an unsanctioned choke hold for selling loose cigarettes; he was then tackled and pinned down by three other officers. The arrest was caught on tape and Garner could be heard saying, “I can’t breathe” at least 11 times, according to Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Visiting Researcher at the Georgetown University in an article for the Washington Post. Garner died of cardiac arrest and the Emergency Medical Crew on scene neglected to administer CPR when Garner wasn’t breathing. The New York City police department defends their tactics by stating, “Strong arm tactics are needed to take down criminals resisting arrest and to ensure their own personal safety” according to Dennis Lynch, of the International Business Times, however these tactics can also be seen as an excessive use of force.
Police brutality in most states goes unnoticed and officers aren’t penalized for wrong doing. For example, at least 179 fatalities resulted from on-duty NYPD officers over the past 15 years and three of the deaths led to the indictment in state court and one conviction, according to A Daily News Analysis. The excessive use of force and continued abuse of authority from police officers has led to a revolt amongst the citizens across the country, for example the #icantbreathe movement.
The #icantbreathe movement is a multiracial, multi-ethnic, multi-class, and multi-generational operation that has been established to protest racial injustice and systemic oppressions. These marches are peaceful and can be referenced to the movements that extend from the 1960s and 1970s. This movement shows that when the government refuses to address the needs and concerns of its citizens, they’ll exercise their First Amendment right to freedom to organize in a peaceful manner. As citizens with rights we expect our government to do what they were hired to do, which is listen to the citizens of the United States and do their best to implement our concerns into policy making.
The #icantbreathe movement is multi-faceted, because it extends much further than stopping police brutality. For example, another goal of the movement is to address the economic injustice that exists amongst the citizens of the U.S. Supporters want the president to develop regulation that would reward good employers that pay a living wage with benefits and allows workers to organize and bargain collectively. People are living below the poverty line and cannot sustain a family on current income and have to subsidize income with Medicaid and food stamps. As a first world country the government should ensure that its citizens are able to live and work comfortably and should be embarrassed that its citizens have to march for equality in order for government officials to take notice that our society is broken.
While I cannot personally support movements that condone violent protests I can certainly support a movement like #icantbreathe, because it can serve for whatever the individual can identify with, for example people can’t breathe, because of police brutality, no justice from slain family members, racism corrupt government, republicans wanting to control women’s productive healthcare, and income equality.
For myself I self-identify with this movement as well, because of gender inequality, LGBTQ people have to fight for civil rights, same-sex marriage still isn’t legal in every state, and religious freedom bills are trying to discriminate against LGBTQ people.
This movement overall is becoming stronger and has the backing of many and it will be interesting to see the results of the movement.
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