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A Harrowing Protest For Eric Garner

by Chris Tognotti

On Wednesday, the unthinkable happened. At least, that's how it may have seemed to people who haven't been living with these issues daily, for decades, as people of color across America have — a Staten Island grand jury returned a non-indictment of NYPD police officer Daniel Pantaleo in the chokehold death of Eric Garner. That's right: despite being captured entirely on film, with Garner audibly gasping that he couldn't breathe as he was choked against a New York City sidewalk, no criminal charges will be filed. Understandably, people are furious, and they're expressing their outrage in powerful fashion: Eric Garner protesters held a Grand Central Station "die-in" Wednesday afternoon, making sure everybody passing through understood the magnitude and tragedy of what's taken place.

The concept of the die-in isn't new — they've been used in countless protests over unarmed citizens slain by police officers, notably in the recent uproar over Ferguson and the killing of Michael Brown. The concept is every bit as simple as it is striking — take to a heavily trafficked area, drop to the ground, and lie there like a prone corpse. And as far as heavily trafficked areas for an act of high-profile protest, it doesn't get much better than Grand Central Station.

New York isn't the only city getting in on the act, either — a die-in was held in Philadelphia's 30th Street Train Station, as well.

Garner, 43 years old at the time of his death, leaves behind a wife and six children. Make no mistake, this isn't the only protest you're going to see tonight, or in the coming days or weeks — there's already been a lot of planning for protest actions across social media. Rest assured, the name Eric Garner isn't going to fade away anytime soon.

Images: Twitter/ANIMALNewYork