- Global Voices - https://globalvoices.org -

Eerie Similarities in Deaths Provoked by Police Brutality in Staten Island and Paris

Categories: Middle East & North Africa, North America, Western Europe, Algeria, France, U.S.A., Citizen Media, Digital Activism, Ethnicity & Race, Human Rights, Media & Journalism, Migration & Immigration

Eric Garner was a 44-year-old African-American man who died following an attempted arrest [1] by the NY Police Department. On July 17, 2014, when police officers attempted to arrest Garner, he had broken up a fight. Garner who suffered from asthma was wrestled to the ground. Medical examiners concluded chokehold and chest compression as the primary causes of Garner's death and Garner's heart problems, obesity and asthma as additional factors. Here is a video of the accident [Warning: Graphic Images]

A few days later (28 August) in Roissy, France, Abdelhak Goradia, a 51 year old Algerian citizen also died inside a police van [2]. The police was carrying Goradia to the airport to be deported back to Algeria when they initially affirmed that he died of a heart attack. Justice department corrected that assessment and stated that Goradia died from choking on his own gastric fluids [3]. His lawyer stated that Goradia called him to say that he was taken away in handcuffs and a head gear. Goradia was previously charged with theft, petty crimes and violence.