Image via Reuters/Robert MacMillan
New Yorkers protesting the recent decision of a grand jury not to indict the NYPD officer who killed Eric Garner took their movement to Apple’s iconic glass cube on 5th Avenue earlier today. The protesters staged what Reuters reporter Robert MacMillan called “a mass die-in” inside the flagship Apple Store for about fifteen minutes.
[tweet https://twitter.com/bobbymacReports/status/541013171604324352 align=’center’]
MacMillan tweeted coverage from the protest, which lasted from 6:35 to about 6:50 PM according to the timestamps. MacMillan said that no arrests were made, no looting took place, and the entire event was peaceful overall. When asked why they had chosen the Apple Store, one of the protesters replied that there was no better place “than a big glass building to make a point.”
[tweet https://twitter.com/bobbymacReports/status/541023576179347456 align=’center’]
After leaving the Apple Store, the protesters reportedly moved on to other businesses in the area, including Macy’s and McDonald’s.
More tweets and photos from the protest are below:
[tweet https://twitter.com/peterfahrni/status/541039776670167040 align=’center’]
[tweet https://twitter.com/bobbymacReports/status/541014413466431488 align=’center’]
[tweet https://twitter.com/bobbymacreports/status/541014007260643329 align=’center’]
[tweet https://twitter.com/MarkMorales51/status/541013767950454784 align=’center’]
[tweet https://twitter.com/PatrikIanPolk/status/541017259301679105 align=’center’]
[tweet https://twitter.com/JoshEiniger7/status/541034827022336000 align=’center’]
[tweet https://twitter.com/bobbymacreports/status/541015816578551808 align=’center’]
[tweet https://twitter.com/bobbymacReports/status/541016730349617152 align=’center’]
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Glad to see it was indeed peaceful. Also good to see it’s interracial because this death was in no way racial but purely a case of pure police brutality.
This wasn’t peaceful, this was a group of A$$holes desperately seeking attention at the expense of a corporation that consistently champions human rights for all.
Yep. You nailed it.
The government relies on corporations for their products/services. If protestors started halting operations at stores, the government would be influenced to act.
make me laugh… Apple champions of human rights no kitting… that’s why they build their phones in China… You A$$… open your eyes and think…
“a group of A$$holes desperately seeking attention at the expense of a corporation that consistently champions human rights for all”
They were in the Apple Store for all of 15 minutes…
Get some tear gas and a fire hose. What does Apple have to do with the murdered victim or the police? It’s just crazy for people to disrupt a business that has no connection to the incident.
It’s even funnier they take their demands of the NYPD to the media, rather than tell them directly to the NYPD. And when they do get out of hand, what, do they expect the police to stand by and do nothing? If you disturb the peace of others, you deserve to be arrested and tried. Let the police do their job, ugh…
Arrested and tried? No thank you. Choke-holds for the bunch.
Fire. Hose.
Cool. Why not sick dogs on them and hang them too…
Like it or not, the Apple Store on 5th Av is a destination for many – it’s a visible landmark, and it’s in a major city. It gets notice.
I don’t think people were protesting Apple. Instead, they are, in a sense, protesting that many American police forces have become para-military organizations. They are protesting that the police are essentially empowered to disempower the average citizen. And they are protesting in a visible place that gets notice.
– “i haven’t seen anyone hurt without first resisting arrest”
– “good to see it’s interracial because this death was in no way racial”
Those are ridiculous statements. The fact is, however, that we don’t really know those things at all. They are simply made up statements.
In contrast, I personally have experienced police abuse of power. When a guy comes up to you and says that he can make your life miserable over a non-legal personal matter, and screams that he is a cop and flashes his badge and exclaims that he can ruin your life, that is abuse of power.
There is a dead citizen who died in police custody. Something went very wrong. This should be fixed. It should be very important to deeply investigate and address not only this one instance, but the possibility of it reoccurring anywhere else.
Congressmen should know. Senators should know. CEOs and Presidents should know… that that is how a lot of people feel.
A dead citizen with asthma, diabetes and obesity who tried to fight with the cops.
He shouldn’t have been breaking the law by selling cigarettes, and hurting legal businesses, their employees and their families.
Apple was not harmed in this legal and safe protest, and nor were their employees or families.
It would be wonderful if our elected officials took the concerns of all citizens very seriously. Instead, they only listen and react to fear-mongers. These officials completely fail to carefully listen to all the nuances of the situation. They are politicians that serve themselves, and not the country.
Herb, it is YOUR opinion that he was “fighting the cops”. It is YOUR idea that a citizen with asthma, diabetes, or obesity makes a difference.
Herb, you are nothing less than bigoted.
Believe it or not, people who break the law have rights too. Just because he resisted arrest doesn’t give law enforcement the freedom to restrain him any way they like. Diabetes and obesity didn’t cause him to lose his life. Not even asthma was the cause. The Chief Medical Examiner said he died because of the force and subsequent asphyxiation from the chokehold.
The force used on the man was not only excessive and ill-fit for the situation, but it was also illegal. The simple fact is that chokeholds or “any pressure to the throat or windpipe, which may prevent or hinder breathing or reduce intake of air” is COMPLETELY forbidden under any circumstance, let alone in a situation where officers are trying to restrain a man accused of selling untaxed cigarettes. Had the officers followed protocol and NOT used the chokehold, he would still be alive. Pre-existing medical conditions would not have mattered in the slightest if the officers had stayed clear of his neck.
They are after attention, not solutions. But the media needs something sexy to cover.
My guess is the Specialists sold at least three MacBooks to protesters.
This was a good one, got me laughing :D
More people without a clue trying to get attention they don’t deserve.
Why dont we just let people live in their neighborhoods without police?
They might enjoy that. Maybe, or they will request for help. Either way, i haven’t seen anyone hurt without first resisting arrest. Resisting arrest kills more than race. Maybe people should think of that.
Tamir Rice for exemple resisted arrest with a fake gun for kids? You don’t get the point, do you?
Where are the protests when a black person kills another black person?
Clearly because racism is not a play and the public can expect justice for victim. I’m not really sure what point you were trying to make.
How is this legal and peaceful. It’s more like disrupting the peace.
Yes, it’s disorderly conduct. The organizers probably told the store, the media and police what they would do ahead of time.
THESE EVENTS ARE NOT SPONTANEOUS. They are staged for attention. If everyone plays their part then it’s over after after the photo op is done.
There were days when there was no jury or even a court; we don’t always like the outcome but at least there a judge and jury, thats why we all need to vote in new judges and l lawyers every opportunity so they don’t have the option to be corrupt!
What did we ever do to deserve hipsters?
This latest so-called victim was in very poor health. His health was a major factor in his death. There was no choke-hold, just as there were no “hands up.”
Trying to resist arrest or punch a cop usually ends poorly for civilians. Personally, I don’t want thugs running the world.
The Chief Medial Examiner report is in complete conflict with your claim.
Herb, your attack on the dead man comes across as some kind of twisted personal vendetta. Herb, you are scum.
You misread the report. His health was very poor.
Don’t try to distract from the truth.
If you can speak, then you can breath. That is also a fact.
Your attempt to intimidate me does not change the facts, loser.
Again, it doesn’t matter if his health was poor. If I were to go out now and punch an old man with a failing heart dead in the chest, I’d still be charged for murder if he dies. The same force may not have killed a younger and healthier man, but the point is a punch should never have been thrown in the first place. The fault is on me, not his pre-existing medical condition. The same can be said for Garner and the police. The same chokehold may not have killed a younger/healthier man, but chokeholds were banned for a reason. It should never have been done to begin with. The fault is on the officer, not the pre-existing health condition.
And as for “If you can speak, then you can breath,” that’s a total BS argument. Suffocation doesn’t just happen instantaneously, there’s a progression. So even though his airways weren’t 100% blocked when he said he couldn’t breathe, that does NOT mean that the amount of oxygen he WAS taking in at the time was in any way sufficient. “I can’t breathe” or “I’m having trouble breathing” mean exactly the same thing in typical everyday speech.
Makes total sense… let’s go to a place of business that has nothing to do with the issue at hand. The police headquarters or city hall must have been too far of a walk. “You wanna get AppleCare with your protest? It covers everything for an additional 2 yrs!”
If internet comments had existed during the civil rights struggle of the 1960s, they would have looked a lot like what we read above. This country was FOUNDED on protest against an authoritanian regime, and all you people can think about is your convenience and “freedom” to buy things. A man is choked to death by police in broad daylight for committing a misdemeanor and all you can do is complain about those protesting it. Shame on you.