As Twitchy reported yesterday, protesters angered by a grand jury’s decision not to charge Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the July 17 choking death of Eric Garner took to the streets. In New York, thousands of demonstrators shut down traffic around the city, closing off the West Side Highway, while others turned their anger toward the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting, hoping to disrupt the festivities there (or possibly burn the tree down).
Organized largely via social media posts, protesters agreed to meet tonight in New York’s Foley Square to protest Garner’s death and the grand jury’s decision not to indict. Also circulating on social media: rules for dealing with police.
Join us tonight at 5:30 pm at Foley Square #HandsUpDontChoke #ThisStopsToday #nycprotest #FoleySquare @carmenperez21 pic.twitter.com/bNkHhyPMPS
— Justice League NYC (@NYjusticeleague) December 4, 2014
https://twitter.com/daytocreate/status/540633651307114496
Caskets for victims of officer-involved violence as massive protest gathers @ #FoleySquare: @steveturnham pic.twitter.com/u5SnOArhYa #EricGarner
— Mark Abraham (@urbandata) December 4, 2014
#miccheck #FoleySquare #BlackLivesMatter We can't forget! pic.twitter.com/VCkMdRJeH8
— MassBliss (@MassBliss) December 4, 2014
https://twitter.com/JennHoffman/status/540633452304166912
https://twitter.com/MedinaMora/status/540634711383887872
https://twitter.com/AlexJSuskind/status/540634954691260417
My skin color is not a crime @elpuentepalante #foleysquare #handsupdontshoot pic.twitter.com/oUmcbvzcia
— MassBliss (@MassBliss) December 4, 2014
Very large crowd now in #FoleySquare for #EricGarner rally. Shouting #ICantBreathe @ABC7NY pic.twitter.com/rcZ5sBNOj1
— Josh Einiger (@JoshEiniger7) December 4, 2014
#justiceforEricGarner #FoleySquare pic.twitter.com/xGvQ84Ouzy
— Avi Smolen (@AviSmolen) December 4, 2014
"Shut the whole system down! #EricGarner #MikeBrown" #FoleySquare chant happening now
— Million Hoodies Movement for Justice (@MillionHoodies) December 4, 2014
Easily more than a thousand in #FoleySquare by now. #EricGarner @ABC7NY pic.twitter.com/jd1161D3T3
— Josh Einiger (@JoshEiniger7) December 4, 2014
Lots of socialists, communists, anarchists here. Not the same crowd as last week. #FoleySquare #nycprotest #BlackLivesMatter #EricGarner
— Rachel | Country Music and Comic Books (@adobeteardrops) December 4, 2014
https://twitter.com/JennHoffman/status/540640906354126848
https://twitter.com/GMalandrucco/status/540641957417332736
https://twitter.com/KendraWrites/status/540641996839608321
NYC: NYPD saying they have over 4,000 Demonstrators At #FoleySquare http://t.co/gO1vdeKeV9
— NYC Scanner (@NYScanner) December 4, 2014
Ton of police here #EricGarner #FoleySquare pic.twitter.com/c9gCOW640R
— Shannon Luibrand (@shannL18) December 4, 2014
Lots of organizations here trying to co-opt the movement. #FoleySquare
— Ivie Ani (@ivieani) December 4, 2014
Members of the CUNY Internationalist Clubs, “the organization of revolutionary Marxist students at the City University of New York,” were on hand with their signs demanding revolution as the only solution.
Protestors chanting "#EricGarner, #MikeBrown shut the whole system down!" #NYC #FoleySquare #protests @ABC pic.twitter.com/AEmlZQmUq5
— Marci Gonzalez (@TVMarci) December 4, 2014
Current chants: ONLY revolution can bring justice! #FoleySquare #justiceforEricGarner
— جيمي (@jamie_bx) December 4, 2014
Forget the previous night’s Christmas carols; the Progressive Labor Party was there with a chant sheet containing protest classics such as, “Hey cops you better start shaking, ’cause today’s pigs is tomorrow’s bacon.”
https://twitter.com/lishaarino/status/540645024686690304
https://twitter.com/GMalandrucco/status/540645043036774401
Some ppl are chanting "NYPD KKK, how many kids have you killed today?" #FoleySquare
— There’s no E in my name. (@daddy_staceface) December 4, 2014
https://twitter.com/llieman/status/540646589497634817
"If you are silent about your pain they will kill you & say you enjoyed it." –#ZNH #ThisStopsToday #FoleySquare pic.twitter.com/zMao6Fe7U2
— Brooklyn Movement Center (@BKMovement) December 4, 2014
"How do you spell racist? NYPD" #FoleySquare
— There’s no E in my name. (@daddy_staceface) December 4, 2014
These people have permission to choke black people to death. #FoleySquare #EricGarner #ICantBreathe #ThisEndsToday pic.twitter.com/PZEhSyoAVw
— Black Storm (@blkstormrider) December 4, 2014
Large group blocking traffic Lower Manhattan #foleysquare https://t.co/ygU9zGG8Po
— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) December 4, 2014
Next stop for many of the protesters: the Brooklyn Bridge (again).
https://twitter.com/sixesneights/status/540652942513405952
Police expect #FoleySquare protesters to march to the Brooklyn Bridge
— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) December 4, 2014
Looks like protestors will be marching across #BrooklynBridge. #NYPD standing by blocking traffic. pic.twitter.com/M5CuMrpMNE
— Liz Dahlem (@lizdahlem) December 4, 2014
Thousands in Foley Sq starting to peacefully march across Brooklyn Bridge in a call for justice… pic.twitter.com/JVmxEcmn9m
— Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) December 4, 2014
***
Update: Commuters might want to avoid the Holland Tunnel as well.
About 40 cops outside of the Holland Tunnel and a bunch of helicopters in the sky downtown anticipating protests from the Eric Garner case
— kev (@kevtaddei) December 4, 2014
The march is going to the Holland Tunnel to shut it down #EricGarner #ThisStopsToday
— Stan Williams (@stanlwilliams) December 4, 2014
Holland Tunnel ….shut it down! #ThisStopsToday #listofdemands #HandsUpDontChoke
— Justice League NYC (@NYjusticeleague) December 4, 2014
Marchers about to take the Holland Tunnel. Leaving Foley now. #EricGarner #NYC
— Tara Angell ?? (@TheWarOnTara) December 4, 2014
Holland Tunnel, here we come! #justiceforEricGarner #nojusticenopeace
— Carmen Perez (@msladyjustice1) December 5, 2014
***
Related:
‘What does that even mean?’ Obama on Garner: ‘We are not going to let up’
‘If I could’: Katy Perry joins protesters ‘laying in those streets’ … in spirit
‘F*ck him up’: Don Lemon wants to take ‘race out of’ Garner case, catches hate
Al Sharpton leads Staten Island march to protest police chokehold death of Eric Garner [photos]
Oliver Willis: Grand jury decision in Eric Garner case shows it’s ‘open season’ on blacks
Reports: Staten Island grand jury will not indict officer for chokehold death of Eric Garner
Hip-hop celebrity J. Cole joins NYC Ferguson and Garner protesters, sells albums
Garner protesters chant ‘F*ck Fox News’ despite Fox agreeing with them
‘Arrest me’: Daily Kos’ Shaun King calls for ‘revolution’ over Garner decision
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