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 The killing of Akai Gurley, 28, gunned down in a dimly lit
stairwell in the New York borough of Brooklyn, was the latest in a
string of lethal police actions fueling public outrage over what
many perceive as race-based violence by law enforcement.
This week's wave of angry but largely peaceful protests began
Wednesday when a New York grand jury declined to bring charges
against white officer Daniel Pantaleo in the chokehold death of Eric
Garner, a black 43-year-old father of six.
A videotape of the confrontation on Staten Island in July showed
Pantaleo's arm across Garner's neck as four officers subdued the
unarmed man on suspicion of selling cigarettes illegally. Garner was
pinned face down to the pavement as he repeatedly gasped, "I can't
breathe" - a phrase protesters have transformed into a rallying cry.
The decision sparing Pantaleo from prosecution was announced nine
days after a Missouri grand jury chose not to indict a white
policeman for the shooting death in August of an unarmed black
teenager in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, spurring two nights of
arson and unrest there.
On Thursday, protests erupted in Phoenix, Arizona after a police
officer shot dead an unarmed black man during a scuffle.
 "The government has created a monster and the monster is now loose,"
said Soraya Soi Free, 45, a nurse from the Bronx who has been
protesting in New York.
MARCHERS INVADE APPLE STORE
After two nights that saw thousands of demonstrators pouring into
the streets and blocking traffic in Manhattan, the turnout on Friday
saw only hundreds as a cold, steady rain fell.
Still, more than 100 people stormed into an Apple Store to stage a
brief "die-in," sprawling on the floor as shoppers and employees
watched. They left without incident after about five minutes.
Similar demonstrations were staged at Macy's flagship department
store in Herald Square and at Grand Central Terminal, one of the
city's two main rail stations. Police stood by and allowed the
protesters briefly to occupy the locations.
Protests also unfolded in Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C., New
Orleans and Oakland, California where marchers echoed phrases such
as "Black lives matter," and "I can't breathe."
Renee Alexander, 44, a nurse from Woodbridge, Virginia, who joined
about 200 protesters in downtown Washington, expressed outrage over
the footage of Garner's death.
"It's heartbreaking for me to watch, over and over on TV, how his
life was cut short on the street, just like a dog,” she said.
NEW CASE IN BROOKLYN
Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson said on Friday he would
convene a grand jury to consider charges against the New York City
officer who shot Gurley. Police have said the officer, Peter Liang,
may have accidentally discharged his gun.
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At a news conference with Gurley's relatives on Friday, Kevin
Powell, the president of advocacy group BK Nation, called the
shooting part of a "series of modern-day lynchings." Gurley's
mother, Sylvia Palmer, tearfully demanded justice.
In Cleveland on Friday, the family of a black 12-year-old boy
fatally shot by police filed a lawsuit against the city, a day after
the federal government found the police department systematically
uses excessive force.
Elsewhere in the Midwest on Friday, activists concluded a 120-mile
(190-km) protest march to the Missouri governor's mansion from
Ferguson, where 18-year-old Michael Brown was fatally shot in August
by a policeman.
New York officer Pantaleo told the grand jury he used a proper
takedown technique and denied putting pressure on Garner's neck,
according to his lawyer, Stuart London. The city's medical examiner
has said Garner's death was caused by compressing his neck and
chest, with his asthma and obesity contributing.
Pantaleo could still face disciplinary action from an internal
police investigation, his lawyer said. Chokeholds are banned by
police department regulations.
Court filings obtained by Reuters show that four black men have sued
Pantaleo over two separate 2012 incidents, claiming they were
stopped, strip-searched and arrested without cause.
The U.S. Justice Department will pursue civil rights investigations
into the Missouri and New York cases, though legal experts have said
federal charges for the two officers are unlikely.
(Additional reporting by Frank McGurty, Joseph Ax, Ellen Wulfhorst,
Scott Malone, Nandita Bose and Nathan Layne; Writing by Steve Gorman
and Joseph Ax; Editing by Bernadette Baum, Grant McCool, Ken Wills,
Kim Coghill and Dale Hudson)
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