Writing Op Ed Speech

Submitted By xneckdeep
Words: 372
Pages: 2

Brittany Raymond
6.3.3 practice: writing op-ed speech
12/16/14

On December 4, 2014, New York City officials announced that a grand jury had cleared the police officer who put Staten Islander Eric Garner in a choke hold that directly caused a heart attack that later killed him. This announcement brought national attention to the issue and sparked huge protests throughout major cities across the United States. These protests were also very diverse and had people of many races or ethnic backgrounds. Along with that, a number of people on social media sites, especially celebrities, have been showing their support to the protesters and grievance towards the victims and their families. This issue goes way beyond New York City and goes deep into the views on cops who purposely abuse their powers.
Although the police officer did not get indicted, I think that he should’ve. There was much consistent evidence, including a video that showed the officer’s excessive and unnecessary force towards the victim. Not only did that video provide a narrative of the arrest, but also convinced people who might’ve sided with the police and demonstrated how badly the system is broken. Because the video is so compelling and outrageous, it’s hard NOT to assume that the system is very lenient on political figures such as cops and that the law itself is terribly flawed. Another piece of evidence that is very important to this case was that the coroner who viewed Garner’s body determined it a