i can't breathe. staten island killing.

ok this is awful. and i am horrified.

as i see it the killing in ferguson was nebulous. we don't know what happened even though it seems so wrong.

the one in new york is very clear.  we see the poor man killed on video over and over again.

i wish i was back in harlem. if i was i'd be out in the streets. peacefully.

garner said 11 times "i can't breathe!" he was just selling cigarettes, for god's sake. he was unarmed. he was putting his hands up.

why would 6 police tackle and abuse a man with his hands up who was just talking to them?  let alone kill him. this is appalling and it comes from stop and frisk.  stop and frisk encourages police to look at every black man as a raging beast. even a cornered unarmed man with his hands up who merely had the effrontery to speak to them. stop and frisk is disgusting and illegal.  it's been illegal for over 200 years.

here's what the constitution says about stop and frisk:

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

i greatly admire the bravery of those police who stick to their vow to protect and serve. but i always think it means they will protect and serve people.  the police who killed a man for selling cigarettes were protecting bodegas and tax collection. i would like to see them protect human life over corner stores, and serve human life over a few dollars of tax revenue.

update:apparently plain clothes police are surreptitiously marching among the protesters in new york. like what happened at occupy wall street.