A common accusation of protesters over the “stranglehold” death of Eric Garner is that police targeted the single cigarette salesman because of his race.
Lost in much of the nation’s conversation about Garner’s death, however, is that just prior to his arrest on Bay Street in the Tompkinsville neighborhood of Staten Island, New York Police Department Chief Philip Banks singled out the precinct with an order to crack down on the illegal sale of 75-cent cigarettes.
According to the New York Daily News, which documented in August the order to address so-called “quality of life” issues, the crackdown on the illegal sale of single cigarettes directly led to the chain of events that ended with Garner’s arrest and death.
The Daily News quoted a source close to the Garner investigation detailing how Banks, who resigned in November, sent a sergeant from his own offices in July “to investigate complaints of untaxed cigarettes being sold in the Tompkinsville neighborhood.”
The newspaper reported Banks’ office focused on Bay Street specifically, even surveilling the area and taking pictures of men thought to have been involved in the illicit cigarette sales.
Five months earlier, in March, the untaxed single cigarettes issue was discussed at a meeting in Banks’ office, according to the Daily News.
One month later, on March 27, a source told the Daily News a caller to the city’s 311 hotline complained about the issue, identifying one of the cigarette sellers as “a man named Eric.” One day later, Garner was arrested for selling the untaxed cigarettes. He would be arrested three more times before the fatal run-in on July 17.
According to the Daily News source, in early July, a memo was sent to the Staten Island borough command stressing the need to address quality-of-life issues, purportedly including the untaxed cigarette sales.
On July 17, Garner died after police officers took him down when he seemed to have resisted arrest.
Banks was operating in an anti-cigarette climate.
Before leaving office on Jan. 1, 2014, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg led a crusade against cigarettes, including untaxed single cigarette sales.
In October 2013, Bloomberg announced the first in a planned series of “padlocking” court actions aimed at shutting down retailers selling cigarettes upon which city and state taxes had not been paid.
Said Bloomberg in a press release over the issue: “Selling cigarettes to minors is never acceptable, and counterfeit and untaxed cigarettes poison the stream of commerce, hurting retailers who play by the rules and posing a greater danger to consumers.”
Bloomberg’s chief policy advisor, John Feinblatt, added, “When bootlegged cigarettes are sold to minors and an unassuming public, health and safety are put at risk.”
This forgotten piece of the puzzle – the order to crack down on untaxed cigarettes in Garner’s neighborhood – may explain the real reason for Garner’s arrest.
Yet the “racist” police charge is dominating the Garner protests, despite any evidence of any racial epitaphs being uttered at any time in any of the Garner videos. The charge persists despite Garner’s own daughter telling CNN she “really doubt(s)” her father was singled out because of the color of his skin.
Erica Garner appeared on CNN, where she was asked by host Don Lemon whether she thought her father’s arrest was “a racial issue.”
She replied: “I really doubt it. It was about the officer’s pride. It was about my father being 6’4″, 350 pounds. And he wanted to be, you know, the top cop that brings this big man down. Because he is just big.”
When Lemon persisted that it may be a race issue, Garner again shot down that narrative.
“Being that my father was black and the officer was white, I mean that’s different races,” Garner said. “But as far as the situation, I can’t really say it’s like really like a black and white issue. It is about, you know, the police officers and abusing their power.”
With additional research by Joshua Klein.
