New York mayor Bill de Blasio on Sunday refused to endorse a grand jury's decision not to indict a police officer over the choking death of a man in the city last summer.
Mr de Blasio also doubled down on controversial comments he made about the risks faced by children of colour, such as his son Dante, when they encounter police officers.
Appearing on ABC, Mr de Blasio three times refused to respond to the question of whether he respected the decision by a grand jury not to bring charges against Daniel Pantaleo, the police officer who put Staten Island resident Eric Garner in a chokehold during an arrest attempt. The decision led to large-scale protests in the city and across the country, which on Sunday continued into a fifth day.
Decision versus process
On Saturday night, violence broke out at one such demonstration, in California. After Mr de Blasio had deflected the question, saying "as an executive in public service" he respected "the judicial process, but . . .", host George Stephanopoulos interrupted to ask: "So you respect the grand jury's decision?" Mr de Blasio replied, with emphasis on the last word: "I respect the process."
He went on to talk about initiating a “systemic” retraining of police officers in New York, to “fix the relationship between the police and the community”.
Stephanopoulos countered: "So you respect the process but not the decision?" Mr de Blasio gave the hint of a smile but did not reply. He said he would "absolutely co-operate" with a federal investigation under way to establish if the police action against Mr Garner violated his civil rights. Appearing on different Sunday talk shows, Mr de Blasio and New York police commissioner William Bratton attempted to put up a united front in the face of accusations from the police union last week that the mayor "threw the police under the bus" when he hinted at racism in the ranks.
Commissioner Bratton called Mr de Blasio “one of the best I have ever worked with” in his career in law enforcement.
The mayor, however, strengthened controversial comments he made earlier this week. Mr de Blasio, who is white, sparked controversy when he said he and his wife, Chirlane McCray, who is black, had long trained their teenage son Dante to “take special care” in any encounter with police.
“We have to have an honest conversation in this country about the history of racism, and the problem that has caused parents to feel their children may be in danger in their dynamics with police, when in fact the police are there to protect them,” he said. “What parents have done for decades who have children of colour, especially young men of colour, is train them to be very careful whenever they have an encounter with a police officer. It’s different for a white child. That’s just the reality of this country.”
He and Ms McCray had lectured their son “from early on” on how to respond to the police. “We said, ‘Look, if a police officer stops you, do whatever he tells you to do. Do not move suddenly, do not reach for your cellphone,’ because, you know, sadly, there is a greater chance it might be misinterpreted if it was a young man of colour.”
‘Law-abiding’ youth
Mr de Blasio said he was striving for a day when every child could be told equally “not only are the police there to protect you but they are going to assume that the young person is an innocent, law-abiding young person”.
Mr de Blasio’s comments were delivered as protests continued in many cities against recent incidents of police brutality and charges of a lack of accountability for police officers who have killed civilians. He said a “rift” between law enforcement and the public was a fundamental problem.
Speaking on CBS, Commissioner Bratton said the NYPD would conduct its own inquiry to establish whether the officers in the arrest which led to the death of Eric Garner had violated department policies and procedures. That inquiry was likely to take three to four months.
Asked what he thought of the dying words of Mr Garner, who was heard on a video taken by a bystanders saying "I can't breathe" 11 times, Bratton said: "I don't think that anyone who watches that video is undisturbed." – (Guardian service)