THE SEAN HANNITY SHOW

More Protests After NYC Decision A NYC grand jury decided not to indict the NYPD officer in the death of Eric Garner. As a result, protests have erupted throughout the country, particularly in New York City, just days after the grand jury decision in Ferguson sparked similar protests. The July death of Eric Garner was the result of his resistant arrest, being placed in a headlock by NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo, and other health complications that exacerbated the situation. Garner was being arrested for the petty crime of selling loose cigarettes on the street. Before we get to the protests and fallout from the grand jury's decision, let's pause for a moment to reflect on the stupidity of the law that led to this tragedy. We have limited police resources to handle criminals and keep our communities safe. Yet politicians insist on passing bureaucratic laws, such as the ones related to cigarette sales in New York City, which force officers to waste their time enforcing laws which are ridiculous. I can't blame the officers for enforcing such laws, after all that is their job, but the government which creates such an environment. In this case, I'm referring to the laws related to sales in New York City. Buying a pack of cigarettes in New York City costs well over $10 per pack, and this is because of outrageous taxes; the government alone gets about $6 of every pack sold. Additionally, the laws related to the sale of cigarettes are seemingly more strident than if one were to smoke marijuana on the street corner, which will garner you a simple summons. In the case of Garner, he was confronted by police for selling a loose, untaxed cigarette. This is illegal for one purpose: government greed. Doing so deprives the government of its precious taxes. We Need to Do Better Let me be clear, the death of Eric Garner is a shame because he didn't have to be in the situation he found himself in if it wasn't for government. Nonetheless, officers have a duty to enforce the laws and that's what happened in this case. Eric Garner was breaking the law and video shows him resisting arrest. Police are also allowed to use force to arrest someone, particularly if they are resisting arrest, though there are limits on this as well. For example, a true "choke-hold" is banned by NYPD regulations, though not illegal under New York law. While this case has been known for its "choke-hold," technically this was not what happened to Garner. There is an important, legal distinction between a choke-hold and a headlock. Unfortunately those distinctions don't matter much when there is an agenda to fulfill. Don't get me wrong, the death of Garner is a shame and it took too long for him to receive medical treatment (about 4 minutes). But to use this as another example of overt police brutality, especially related to race is simply missing the mark. As was pointed out in the New York Post, "There were 228,000 misdemeanor arrests in New York City in 2013, the last year for which there are audited figures, and every one of them had at least the potential to turn into an Eric Garner-like case. None did." The case of Eric Garner, while a down-right shame, is an outlier and not part of a systematic pattern of abuse. The confrontation was caused by a bad law - is anyone going to look at blaming the government here? The grand jury made the right decision. The state of New York is one greedy state and this is one bad law that's created this environment.