What Reason TV Saw at the NYC Eric Garner Protest

Reason TV's original reporting on the New York City protests this week.

Originally published Dec. 3, 2014. Text below:

Protesters packed the streets of Midtown Manhattan tonight to protest today's announcement that a grand jury had declined to indict the NYPD officer who killed an unarmed man named Eric Garner last July by choking him with a nightstick after he resisted arrest.

The protest began at 4:30pm with a "die-in" staged at Grand Central Terminal, in which about 20 people lay down on the floor in the middle of the commuter hub. After about an hour had passed, the protesters rose to their feet changing, "I can't breathe," echoing the words of Eric Garner as he was asphyxiated.

The demonstration moved to Times Square, and then towards Rockefeller Center. The protesters blocked traffic and attempted to disrupt the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony, but the NYPD kept them at bay by throwing up gates around the site.

Shot and edited by Jim Epstein. Approximately 2 minutes.