A lot of people are turning this into a black vs. white thing, and I've noticed some here are trying to describe this as a gendered problem. While there is some truth to this latter view, I would like to state my own reading of the case, and we can discuss what you all think of it.

Eric Garner, in bad health, broke the law (sold cigarettes individually) and then resisted arrest. In taking him into custody, the police put garner in a hold and pressed him into the ground, reducing his breathing. Once his hands were in cuffs, the police took note of his breathless state and called an ambulance. Garner was loaded into the ambulance. He died of a heart attack on the way to the hospital.

I think a major take-away from this is that you cannot safely resist arrest. Once you resist arrest, you force the police to make their own judgments about the appropriate amount of force to subdue you.

To bring in the obvious gendered point: no, women aren't subject to the same aggressive arrest policies.

The MRM is still small, and I would hate to lose any of you to police brutality. Please, don't resist arrest. If you are wrongfully arrested, there may be an appropriate time later to sue, but you can't do that if you're dead.

What do you all take away from Garner's death?