Press release from former Buncombe County Republican Party Chairman Chad Nesbitt and former Asheville City Councilman Carl Mumpower:
Asheville conservative activists are planning a downtown police support rally to counter recent anti-police protests held in Asheville. Former Buncombe County Republican Party Chairman Chad Nesbitt and former Asheville City Councilman Carl Mumpower indicate that, “It is past time for average citizens to speak up against this politically motivated assault on our public servants.” “Facts are being displaced with assumptions in a very dishonest manner at the local, state and national level. Our thin blue line is not in a position to speak against the misinformation campaign and too many media outlets are siding with a vocal and violent minority apparently indifferent to truth.
“While it is true that black Americans are killed out of proportion to their numbers, it is also true they commit crimes dramatically out of proportion to their numbers. Paradoxically, each year 100 black citizens die at the hand of a law enforcement system that annually loses a similar number of its own. These figures shrink in comparison to 6,000 black on black murders. Paralyzing our police with political correctness will do nothing to reduce that horrific and much ignored statistic.”
“Police are charged to keep the peace and respond to crime and aggression, not to diagnose motivations. Anyone not wishing to be harmed by an officer licensed in lethal force would do well to reconsider violence as a path to empowerment. Protesting voices have been notably indifferent to “be cool” as a risk antidote.”
The rally will be held from 12:15 to 12:45 this Thursday, December 11th on the City-County Plaza directly in front of the Asheville police station.
Anyone not wishing to be harmed by an officer licensed in lethal force would do well to reconsider violence as a path to empowerment.
Eric Garner was not being violent. The whole world watched him be put in an illegal chokehold, and then die begging for air, in what the coroner officially ruled a “homicide”. To deny that deaths at the hands of police are never unjustified is to ignore the evidence. This is what local and national protests are about: a sense of impunity on the part of people who will never ever acknowledge that sometimes cops have to be held accountable for mistaken or deliberate acts of violence against innocent citizens.
More political grandstanding by professional
Whoops. “More political grandstanding by professional left-haters.”
And BTW, aren’t Chad and Carl the guys soliciting photos of Asheville Police officers not arresting women at the topless rallies, in order to embarrass them? Not so much with the “support the APD” there, are you?
He wasn’t being violent, but he was certainly resisting arrest. Watch the video as he bats at the policeman’s hands as they try to handcuff him. Eric Garner was 6 ft. 4 inches tall and weighed nearly 400 lbs. Compare that to the officers in the video.
The autopsy results clearly showed his death was related to chronic health conditions including acute and chronic bronchial asthma, obesity, and heart disease. The scuffle on the sidewalk most assuredly exacerbated these conditions, but the police are expected to arrest anyone they believe is committing a crime regardless of health conditions. He did not die of asphyxiation, as has been mis-protrayed by many (“I can’t breath!).
Really, the best way to prevent this type of incident is to be compliant with police officers. Eric Garner had a criminal history and outstanding warrants and did not intend to be compliant, as plainly shown in the video.
The chokehold that killed Eric Garner, as affirmed by the coroner, was banned by the NYPD. Even Tea Party-backed Sen. Rand Paul agrees that “You probably shouldn’t have the power to be a policeman anymore, at the very least,” after committing this violation.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/09/politics/rand-paul-garner/
How sad that after a week of even right-wing political figures saying, “Yeah, this is messed up”, there are still people trying to excuse this state-sanctioned murder of an innocent man.
“Be compliant with police officers”?!?!?
“I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.” Eleven times he said it, and the men sitting on him, and choking him ignored him as he died.
This man, guilty of no crime, begged for his life while held by men “under the color of authority”. He died, and we all watched it. Have you no shame? Should these officers have absolutely no consequences for causing the death of a citizen in their custody?!?
Again, you ignore the facts of this case. Eric Garner did not die on the sidewalk while the police choked him and ignored him…he died about an hour later after being transported to the hospital. While the choke hold was not approved for use, it was not banned by law, so there was no crime committed. Had Garner been compliant, there would have been no struggle. Your unfounded inflammatory accusations and language do not lend to your credibility.
You claim Eric Garner was “guilty of no crime”, but he clearly raised the suspicion of the police. . And, after all, isn’t that what all arrests are based on…suspicion. Only the courts have the authority to determine whether a person is innocent or guilty. So should we stop arresting people all together? In addition, there were warrants out for his arrest. Should the police stop taking people into custody who have outstanding warrants?
What is truly sad is that it is impossible to have true dialogue about the issues when you want to ignore the facts and, instead resort to name-calling, personal attacks, shaming, and vilifying others rather than discussing the facts in a calm, reasonable manner. You didn’t refute any of the facts of my post but went into a rant instead. Obviously, you feel that your opinions are, by default correct, and anyone that disagrees must not be tolerated.
Finally, you apparently feel this is a right-wing vs left wing issue. It is immaterial to me who on the right or left condemns the actions of the police…I will judge the facts as I know them and make my own decision regardless of politics. I encourage you to do the same.
While the choke hold was not approved for use, it was not banned by law, so there was no crime committed. Had Garner been compliant, there would have been no struggle.
I weep for you. You don’t want to see how you are facilitating the deaths of future innocents. It was “not approved” to choke the life out of this man, but not “banned by law”, therefor there was “no crime committed”.
It’s on the law enforcement officer to use “approved” techniques to restrain suspects. This officer didn’t do that, and according to the coroner: he killed Eric Garner. He should have to answer for that (or at the very least, there should be a trial), but with people who excuse any and all police killings, anger will build, justifiably.
I’m a middle-aged white guy, and will likely never face the prospect of unjustified police force. But my world is made less just, and therefor less safe, by the disproportionate use of force against my brothers and sisters of color.
If you’re not moved by the morality of seeking equal justice for people of all colors, look at it selfishly: What A Sucky World We Have To Endure When Our Neighbors And Co-Workers Know That They Are Not Treated As Equals Under The Law.
See? It’s all about you, and your right to live in a society free of injustice.
There are times in your posts when you seem irrationally emotional (“You don’t want to see how you are facilitating the deaths of future innocents”) and then there are times when I can feel the real pain you are experiencing. I simply want everyone to be able to logically look at the facts, put aside emotions inflamed by Al Sharpton, the media, and politics, and come to their own conclusion.
You state ” But my world is made less just, and therefor less safe, by the disproportionate use of force against my brothers and sisters of color”, so you obviously feel this was a racially motivated attack. But Garner’s own daughter stated on a CNN interview that she did not feel race was a motivating factor in this incident. This man had been charged more than 30 times with the same crime…the crime which had just been singled out by the mayor and the police chief for stricter enforcement.
Would you have felt that a taser was a disproportionate use of force? What if his underlying medical conditions had STILL resulted in death from the shock of the taser? Perhaps the officers felt that a take down was less physically harmful that the taser. What would you have done to take this man into custody?
Any advance society is based on order, not chaos. If anyone can defy the commands of a police officer at their own choosing, all of our worlds are less just and less safe. Again, compliance by Eric Garner would have resulted in no violence, and no death.
you obviously feel this was a racially motivated attack
I never said that, and no, I don’t believe that Eric Garner was attacked by the police just because he was black. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt that you aren’t deliberately misrepresenting my argument, but rather that you misunderstand.
Read this, and you’ll get an idea of what I meant by “the disproportionate use of force against my brothers and sisters of color”:
http://www.propublica.org/article/deadly-force-in-black-and-white
What would you have done to take this man into custody?
I would not have used a chokehold on him, a tactic banned by the NYPD specifically because it can lead to death. You keep trying to ignore the fact that this officer choked Eric Garner to death.
While the choke hold was not approved for use, it was not banned by law, so there was no crime committed.
That’s like saying that since hammers are not banned by law, there would have been “no crime committed” if this officer had killed Garner with one. The coroner ruled this a homicide. That indicates a crime was committed. The fact that you and others are trying to blame Garner for his own asphyxiation is a perfect example of why there is so much outrage over this issue.
Oh my…we’ve gone to the ridiculous!
1. You deny that you think this was racially motivated when you say “I never said that, and no, I don’t believe that Eric Garner was attacked by the police just because he was black. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt that you aren’t deliberately misrepresenting my argument, but rather that you misunderstand.” Yet earlier you talked about the “disproportionate use of force against my brothers and sisters of color.” How can you possibly think I’m misrepresenting or misunderstanding your meaning??? You are explicitly stating that race was a factor, despite your denials. No “benefit of the doubt” needed here.
2. You sidestepped my question about what you would have done to take this man into custody by stating what you would NOT do! That’s not an answer!
3. You state “You keep trying to ignore the fact that this officer choked Eric Garner to death”. Eric Garner was not choked to death. As you well know, the choke hold, prone positioning, and compression to his chest all contributed to his death, but he was not asphyxiated. He died of cardiac arrest in the ambulance.
4. How could a man that can’t breath say “I can’t breath” eleven times?
4. You state “The coroner ruled this a homicide. That indicates a crime was committed.” This is just laughable. All most every website that has reported on this incident has explained that “homicide” does not equate to murder, or even a crime. “Homicide” refers to death by another human being. In corner’s terminology, homicide is used to refer to any unnatural death. So if person A kills person B in complete self-defense, person B’s death will be ruled a homicide. Don’t you get this??? Time to quit watching Law & Order and start reading!
Here are the facts in this case as we know them at this time:
– Eric Garner was observed by police selling “loosies” to a man in a red shirt.
– Eric Garner had previously been arrested 30 times, including arrests for assault and grand larcney.
– Only days before, the mayor and the police chief had issued orders for the police to crack down on the illegal sales of cigarettes.
– At the time of this arrest, Eric Garner was out on bail for illegally selling cigarettes, driving without a license, marijuana possession, and false impersonation.”
– Eric Garner was 6′ 4″ tall and weighed between 350 and 400 lbs.
– Eric Garner was resisting arrest as he batted away the officers’ attempts to put him in handcuffs.
– Eric Garner was not choked or strangled to death. There were a number of contributing factors to his death including the choke hold, chest compression, prone positioning, and several underlying health conditions. He died of cardiac arrest, not asphyxiation. He did not die on the sidewalk, but in an ambulance on the way to the hospital.
– “Homicide” does not equate to murder, or even to a crime.
I have already spent way too much time spoon-feeding you the “facts” instead of the “hype”. This will be my last post on the subject, as I believe you can research for yourself, but you probably won’t. Have a nice day…
Is ‘Garring’ your last name? You know how Dictionary.com defines it?
“to compel or force (someone) to do something.”
Is this a funny old world, or what?
And one last thing, OK – not giving you the benefit of the doubt anymore. You allege that I think that Eric Garner was attacked by the police because he was black. This is false. I and others are pointing out the disproportionate use of force against black citizens, and the lack of accountability when that force results in fatalities.
That does not equal: “Eric Garner was attacked because he was black.” But you’ve convinced yourself that it does, so have fun with your chewtoy.
Carl Mumpower has cancelled this event, telling the AC-T that he thinks it might lead to violence.
http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2014/12/10/police-support-rally-canceled/20199309/
I wonder if what really happened is that someone at the APD politely asked him to “stay off our side”…