12/3 – Commuters React to NYC Grand Jury Chokehold Decision

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By John Burton
RED BANK – If the New York City grand jury deciding the Eric Garner chokehold death case were made up of a group of commuters at the Red Bank train station the outcome would have clearly been different.
A random sampling of a diverse group of those arriving and departing on NJ Transit trains Wednesday evening, following the grand jury decision to not indict NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the July 17 death of Garner had many of them expressing disappointment, in some cases anger and resignation and even some offering support for the decision.
Daniel Farley, who works in New York and lives in Metuchen, said he initially wasn’t aware of the grand jury’s decision until he checked his smart phone on the train. “Ferguson was a different ball of wax,” believing there was some question there. “There should have been an indictment here,” he said.
Walking to catch the train Farley said there didn’t appear to be any disruption in Manhattan—at least none he was aware of. “I didn’t see anything. I just kept my head down and kept going,” he said. “Like always.”
And he didn’t think there would be any violence, at least not to the level that occurred in Ferguson, he added while CNN was reporting protests in NYC with people holding signs “I Can’t Breathe.”.
In light of the jury’s decision, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio Wednesday called for calm.
“You can call for it, it don’t mean you’re going to get it,” responded Danny Corrick, who was waiting to get home to Newark.
Carlo Rivera, a Red Bank resident returning from Jersey City, saw it differently. “The police have to protect themselves,” he said, adding the grand jury “should give him a break,” referring to Pantaleo. Rivera, however, said “They”—meaning police—“need to learn how to deal with the disabled.”