MOSCOW, August 24 (RIA Novosti) - While indignation over the racial issues still runs high in US Ferguson, thousands marched peacefully Saturday through the New York borough of Staten Island protesting at the death of an African American man put into a chokehold by a white police officer.
Eric Garner, 43, died July 17 as police were arresting him for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes by using a chokehold, a technique officially banned in the United States.
Although the New York protests led by well-known American Baptist minister and civil rights activist Al Sharpton were quiet, nearby shops closed Saturday for fear of being looted like it happened in Ferguson earlier this week.
Mr. Sharpton repeatedly warned demonstrators that such action would not be tolerated, adding that Mr. Garner's death was a defining moment for police nationwide.
The demonstrators demanded the prosecution of Daniel Pantaleo, the detained policeman who had been involved in the crime. Some called out "Hands up, don't shoot", which is the slogan used by the Missouri protesters.
Over 2,500 people took to the streets, having been deeply outraged with a witness video that captured Mr. Garner crying out “I can’t breathe” as he was being put under arrest.
Though the official cause of death as ruled by the coroner is homicide, there were contributing factors, the victim’s asthma among others, medical examiners state. The incident happened weeks before black 18-year-old Michael Brown was killed in Missouri after being stopped by a police officer for walking in the street in the St Louis suburb of Ferguson. The protests over the killing reached their peak on Monday night, causing the deployment of the National Guard, which was withdrawn four days later.
