2.03 Broadcast-Radio

 

For this assignment, I listened to a broadcast about the Eric Garner grand jury decision. The case is about a 43 year old African-American man named Eric Garner from New York who was confronted by police "dealing out", or selling rather, unlicensed cigarettes. There is video of Garner resisting his arrest and yelling at officers, but if you've seen the video you know that he wasn't too violent about it at all. Garner was ranting about how he was minding his own business when a police officer named Daniel Pantaleo came up behind Garner and put him into a chokehold. Garner fell to the ground, Pantaleo still holding him around the neck while other officers started to physically grab Garner as well. Mr. Garner was protesting about his not being able to breathe but the officer, not listening, pressed his head down to the cement. Eric Garner died minutes later from the chokehold. This has been looked upon as an act of racism and Pantaleo has been trying to clear his name in the police force and court ever since. The case was taken so seriously that President Obama and the mayor of New York had to get involved. President Obama mentioned the "concern on the part of too many minority communities that law enforcement is not working with them and dealing with them in a fair way.” Despite all of this, the grand jury made a final decision December 3rd, 2014 that they will not be indicting Pantaleo.

This radio broadcast by Kilmeade and Friends clarifies a few facts about the case such as the coroner deemed that Garner died due to lack of oxygen, asthma, heart disease and obesity (another fact: he was about 400 pounds). The New York criminal defense lawyer (and legal analyst for the FOX news channel) who was interviewed about the case, Arthur Aidala, explains why this wasn't a racist act by Pantaleo and that the same thing would have happened if it were a white man. Aidala took no sides, making sure to give only the facts about the case and call attention to both sides of the story. In Panataleo's defense, he had this to say: "When an officer says 'You’re under arrest', it’s not a suggestion." But he also did not fully agree with the grand jury's decision. Aidala believes we have to take a look at the grand jury system and make some changes.



Brian Kilmeade is the host of Kilmeade and Friends and a co-host on Fox and Friends, a morning show on the Fox News channel. Kilmeade used the video evidence and someone working on the case as his sources for this broadcast. Anyone who questions this information can go online and do some research on Aidala and the Eric Garner case. I consider this broadcast to be a credible news source because the reporter uses the name of his source and interviews the person on the broadcast, presents both sides of the story, and explains facts about the story that anyone can check for themselves.



Sources: 
"Brian Kilmeade." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 May 2014. Web. 09 Dec. 2014.

Shapiro, Ben. "The Actual Facts of The Eric Garner Case." Breitbart News Network. Breitbart News, 3 Dec. 2014. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.

Podcast: http://radio.foxnews.com/2014/12/04/when-an-officer-says-youre-under-arrest-its-not-a-suggestion/