LESS than two weeks after a grand jury decided not to indict a white police officer for killing an unarmed black man in Ferguson, Missouri, another grand jury—this one in New York City—ruled on a similar case, and delivered a similar verdict. In Staten Island in July Daniel Pantaleo, a New York police officer in a plain-clothes unit, placed Eric Garner in a chokehold after Garner resisted arrest. Garner’s dying words were “I can’t breathe.” His alleged crime was selling “loosies”, or untaxed cigarettes, on a street corner. The incident was recorded by bystanders on their mobile phones, and it raised questions about racial profiling and aggressive policing in the city. Today a grand jury decided not to indict Mr Pantaleo. Some see this decision as merely another example of police invincibility regardless of circumstance.



“Today’s outcome is one that many in our city did not want,” observed Bill de Blasio, New York’s mayor, in a statement today. Garner’s father has asked that there be no violence in response. Peaceful protests against the decision were organised within hours, including a multi-racial “die-in” at Grand Central Station, a busy transport hub. More are expected around the city, including at the tree-lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Centre this evening. New York’s police force has been preparing for this day for months. The NYPD’s official twitter feed tweeted the hashtag #WeHearYou. One tweeted response was blunt: “You can’t hear us because you’re choking us to death!”
For Mr De Blasio, the case is personal. He has said he had to train his son, who is black, how to handle the police. “There is a history to overcome,” he said. The mayor added that Garner’s case will go through a thorough internal investigation at the NYPD. The Department of Justice has also opened a criminal civil-rights investigation. The public may never learn what happened behind the closed doors of the four-month grand jury trial, however, owing to an oddity of New York law. In a statement today, Staten Island’s district attorney explained that he was unable to disclose specific details of the proceedings.
The grand jury’s verdict comes just two days after President Obama held a conclave of church and civil rights leaders, mayors and police officials to discuss ways to reduce the “simmering distrust” between the police and minority communities. This tension has been especially stark since August, when a white policeman killed an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri. But the problem, says the president, “is national”. He announced a new task force to study police best practices and ways to build public trust. He unveiled a three-year, $263m plan for a new approach to community policing. About $75m will go towards 50,000 new body-mounted cameras for patrolling officers.
In New York, where the crime rate is at a record low, Mr De Blasio had just announced plans to outfit the NYPD, the country’s largest force, with body cameras. The first officers could begin wearing them by the end of this week. Though as the Garner case shows, recorded videos do not always clarify the complications of law enforcement.