BERKELEY, Calif./ NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Students at medical schools around the United States staged “die-ins” to protest the chokehold death by police of an unarmed black man, and New York activists demanded the city take action after a grand jury declined to indict the officer involved.
Protests intensified last week after the grand jury decision not to charge a white New York City police officer in the July death of Eric Garner. The decision came roughly a week after a Missouri grand jury did not indict a white officer in the shooting death of unarmed black teen Michael Brown.
In New York, a group calling itself the NY Justice League asked local officials to fire Officer Daniel Pantaleo over Garner’s death. They also urged the state to name a special prosecutor to investigate the Garner case and called for clearer laws regarding police use of lethal force. The group later held a news conference to announce it had the support of hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons and recording artists including Common and Immortal Technique.
Simmons, who is behind the music label Def Jam Records, said he had spoken with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio about the group’s demands.
