The spirit of the #FirePantaleo movement was short-lived. Not that he was hired back but for another reason.
Less than twenty-four hours after word got around that Daniel Pantaleo was being fired and lost his pension, someone by the name of R Trois created a GoFundMe page to raise $150,000 for an unlawful, “untruthful,” and “disingenuous” former officer. Indeed, this is America. A country where people wage arguments attempting to qualify a “smart mouth” as justification for killing another human being is down right inhuman and like Marc Lamont Hill said, “disgusting.”
The $83,000+ in donations makes me sick to my stomach. It’s like 83,000+ razor blades cutting into the hearts of each person who fought and fought to see any amount of justice for our dear brother #EricGarner. In the wicked world of white supremacy, there is one thing that will find you solace quicker than a New York minute is: killing a Black person. The donations pouring in reflect a grotesque amount of racism that is willing to set aside “law and order” politics to rescue a fellow comrade from his wrongdoing. Where was this same support for Eric Garner and their family as they awaited justice for five longer agonizing years? Nowhere to be found in the abyss of white supremacy and state sanctioned violence.
We’ve seen swift action taken against an officer by the state and community when the victim was white. Two years ago, a Black officer was convicted of killing a white Australian woman. Had he been white, especially a white male, he would have received bail money, a trip to Disney World, NRA statement, a tweet from Trump and lawmakers shouting out #BlueLivesMatter. That brother, however, was convicted of third degree murder quicker than you could bat an eye.
“I CAN’ T BREATHE!”
Video evidence of Eric Garner being choked to death by Pantaleo came pouring in to prosecutors who admitted they had enough at the time to prosecute him. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to persuade a grand jury to formally indict Pantaleo. Five years later after the statute of limitations had run, after #FirePantaleo sent shockwaves on Twitter, Pantaleo was finally questioned on his role in killing Eric Garner. When asked about the chokehold he used while looking at video evidence, he told a boldfaced lie.
“No I did not,” Officer Pantaleo replied, when asked if he did use the prohibited maneuver.
Quote collected from an article in the NYT.
The administrative law judge presiding over this case described Pantaleo’s testimony as “implausible and self-serving.” Yet, people are running to his aid as if he is the victim in this case. It took the NYPD five years to reach a conclusion that could’ve been done over two years ago: #FirePantaleo. While we all waited in limbo for justice, Pantaleo was rewarded a desk job collecting $120,000 per year for state sanctioned killing of an unarmed Black man. Great (insert beaucoup sarcasm).
For GoFundMe to allow this to happen is a total slap in the face to the memory of Eric Garner, his family, and those that have fought, tirelessly, to see Pantaleo fired. The platform, in essence, is allowing white supremacy to win. We cannot allow this to happen. Be sure to head over to the GoFundMe page to report it for attempting to enrich an undeserving person. We are not accepting this as an alternative for him to receive his pension, at all.