George Floyd was not the only unarmed black American man left frantically gasping for breath during a run-in with a white lawman.
Before Floyd lost consciousness on a Minneapolis street with a policeman's knee pinned to his throat last year, Eric Garner met a similarly breathless end in New York in 2014.
Saturday marks the seventh anniversary of Garner being placed in a chokehold by an officer on Staten Island as he was being arrested for selling untaxed, individual cigarettes -- known locally as "loosies" -- on the street.
Widely shared mobile phone footage of Floyd’s death last year sparked a national wave of protests over racially fuelled police violence. Seven years ago, it was viral videos of Garner wheezing “I can’t breathe” that drew crowds to Black Lives Matter rallies.
For New Yorkers, Garner symbolises the police's excessive use of force against unarmed black men in a city of 8.4 million that is again grappling with racial justice issues, this time amid a surge in violent crime.
Oscar-winning filmmaker Spike Lee honoured the two men when speaking this month at the Cannes Film Festival, where he served as its first black jury president.
“When you see brother Eric Garner, when you see king George Floyd murdered, lynched,” said Lee, “you would think and hope that … black people would stop being hunted down like animals.”
Garner died after being placed in a fatal chokehold in the city’s Tompkinsville neighbourhood, where locals today say relations with police have only marginally improved.
Daniel Pantaleo, the officer who wrestled Garner to the ground using a prohibited chokehold, was never prosecuted. He was eventually fired by the New York Police Department in 2019.
The following year, state politicians passed the Eric Garner Anti-Chokehold Act, which opened the door to prosecutions of cops who kill using chokeholds and other restraint techniques. The charge carries a 15-year jail term.
The debate over policing continues in the run-up to an election in November over who will lead the city, including a mayoral race pitting Democrat Eric Adams against Curtis Sliwa, a Republican.
Both candidates are crime fighters — Mr Adams, Brooklyn Borough President, is a former police captain, and Mr Sliwa in 1979 founded the Guardian Angels group of vigilantes who patrolled streets and subways in their trademark red berets.
Similar to the late 1970s, New Yorkers nowadays rank law and order as a priority amid double-digit rises in shootings and hate crimes. The would-be mayors both eschew leftist plans to cut police funding, saying they can reform policing while keeping the streets safe.
Mr Sliwa, who is distancing himself from ex-president Donald Trump’s version of the Republican Party in his long-shot mayoral run, says Garner’s case is relevant today.
“Officer Pantaleo did choke him out,” Mr Sliwa told Bloomberg this month. “It was a hold that should not be legal.”
Garner’s legacy is more apparent in another race, in which Alvin Bragg, a former deputy to New York's attorney general, is expected to win an election in autumn to become Manhattan’s first black district attorney.
The 47-year-old civil rights lawyer has campaigned more heavily for police reforms than his mayoral counterparts. He is also representing Garner’s mother in a judicial inquiry into the chokehold fatality.
Mr Bragg, a Democrat, told an upper Manhattan crowd last month that big questions remain over Garner’s death and he assured them he was “still fighting for transparency”.
The Garner family seeks the release of medical records, the names of all officers at the scene and for disciplinary action against an officer who falsely filed paperwork saying force was not used on Garner.
“That’s the kind of fight I’m going to continue and take to the Manhattan [district attorney's] office,” said Mr Bragg.
Fighting in Garner’s corner has earned Mr Bragg plaudits as a racial justice trailblazer, but he may gain attention for other reasons. If he wins in November, he would take charge of a much bigger case: the tax-dodge prosecutions aimed at Mr Trump’s property empire.
The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
World Cup warm up matches
May 24 Pakistan v Afghanistan, Bristol; Sri Lanka v South Africa, Cardiff
May 25 England v Australia, Southampton; India v New Zealand, The Oval
May 26 South Africa v West Indies, Bristol; Pakistan v Bangladesh, Cardiff
May 27 Australia v Sri Lanka, Southampton; England v Afghanistan, The Oval
May 28 West Indies v New Zealand, Bristol; Bangladesh v India, Cardiff
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
TUESDAY'S ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court
Starting at 2pm:
Elina Svitolina (UKR) [3] v Jennifer Brady (USA)
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) v Belinda Bencic (SUI [4]
Not before 7pm:
Sofia Kenin (USA) [5] v Elena Rybakina (KAZ)
Maria Sakkari (GRE) v Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) [7]
Court One
Starting at midday:
Karolina Muchova (CZE) v Katerina Siniakova (CZE)
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) v Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR)
Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) v Dayana Yastermska (UKR)
Petra Martic (CRO) [8] v Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)
Sorana Cirstea (ROU) v Anett Kontaveit (EST)
Stage results
1. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Deceuninck-QuickStep 4:39:05
2. Michael Matthews (AUS) Team BikeExchange 0:00:08
3. Primoz Roglic (SLV) Jumbo-Visma same time
4. Jack Haig (AUS) Bahrain Victorious s.t
5. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Bora-Hansgrohe s.t
6. Tadej Pogacar (SLV) UAE Team Emirates s.t
7. David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ s.t
8. Sergio Higuita Garcia (COL) EF Education-Nippo s.t
9. Bauke Mollema (NED) Trek-Segafredo s.t
10. Geraint Thomas (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers s.t
Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Batti Gul Meter Chalu
Producers: KRTI Productions, T-Series
Director: Sree Narayan Singh
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Divyenndu Sharma, Yami Gautam
Rating: 2/5
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
Profile box
Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)
Ahmed Raza
UAE cricket captain
Age: 31
Born: Sharjah
Role: Left-arm spinner
One-day internationals: 31 matches, 35 wickets, average 31.4, economy rate 3.95
T20 internationals: 41 matches, 29 wickets, average 30.3, economy rate 6.28
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
The Gentlemen
Director: Guy Ritchie
Stars: Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant
Three out of five stars
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
What's in the deal?
Agreement aims to boost trade by £25.5bn a year in the long run, compared with a total of £42.6bn in 2024
India will slash levies on medical devices, machinery, cosmetics, soft drinks and lamb.
India will also cut automotive tariffs to 10% under a quota from over 100% currently.
Indian employees in the UK will receive three years exemption from social security payments
India expects 99% of exports to benefit from zero duty, raising opportunities for textiles, marine products, footwear and jewellery
