Protest of chokehold death turns violent

New York, December 7

A protest in California turned violent when masked demonstrators smashed windows and threw objects at police. Demonstrations around the country continued over a New York City grand jury's decision not to indict a white police officer in the chokehold death of an unarmed black man.

Officer Jenn Coats, a spokeswoman for the Berkeley Police Department, said several businesses were looted and damaged and two officers were injured when a splinter group broke off from a peaceful demonstration Saturday night in that California city. Protesters threw rocks, bricks, bottles, pipes and other objects at officers, damaging some squad cars. By early Sunday, at least six people were arrested, Coats said.

Thousands of demonstrators have protested peacefully in New York and elsewhere since the announcement Wednesday that a grand jury would not indict a white officer in the death of Eric Garner, a black man who repeatedly gasped "I can't breathe!" while he was being arrested for selling loose, untaxed cigarettes. The arrest was captured on video.

The decision closely followed a Ferguson, Missouri, grand jury's choice not to indict a white officer in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old.

The scope of the demonstrations and the lack of violence were moving to Garner's mother and widow.

"It is just so awesome to see how the crowds are out there," said Eric Garner's mother, Gwen Carr. "It just warmed my heart." Garner's widow, Esaw Garner, said she saw demonstrators from her apartment window and told her son, "Look at all the love that your father's getting." Officers have said the outcry over the grand jury decision has left them feeling betrayed and demonised. — AP