POLITICAL RUSH TO JUDGMENT

NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who on Thursday used a prohibited choke hold on arrest-resisting Eric Garner while trying to subdue the 350 pound man, was stripped on Saturday of his badge and gun

When NY cops spotted Eric Garner selling untaxed cigarettes Thursday while out on bail for three prior illegal cigarette sales arrests, the man who weighs between 350 and 400 pounds told the cops he was not going to let them arrest him. As the attempted place him in custody, he resisted arrest by swinging his arms at them. Officer Daniel Pantaleo managed to get behind Garner and place him in a choke hold. As he was brought down, another officer sat down on him. Garner repeatedly said he could not breathe before passing out. He died of a heart attack on the way to a hospital.

Since Garner was black and the arresting officers were white, there was an immediate uproar in the black community with Al Sharpton leading a large but peaceful demonstration.

Bill de Blasio, New York’s Sandinista-loving mayor, got elected by promising the city’s black and Latino communities he would change the NYPD to satisfy their complaints about police mistreatment. De Blasio said he found a video of the arrest “very troubling” and even postponed a family vacation to Italy because of the incident.

It did not take long for NYPD to act on de Blasio’s reaction to the tragedy. Pantaleo, an eight-year veteran, was put on desk duty Saturday and stripped of his badge and gun in an obvious political rush to judgment.

According to CNN, Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Patrick J. Lynch called Pantaleo's reassignment "a completely unwarranted, kneejerk reaction for political reasons." He said the move "effectively pre-judges this case and denies the officer the very benefit of a doubt that has long been part of the social contract that allows police officers to face the risks of this difficult and complex job."

Public records show Eric Garner was out on $4,000 bond or $2,000 cash bail for three criminal cases, all involving charges of possession and sale of untaxed cigarettes, from arrests in May, March and last August. In the August case, police also charged him with aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle, false personation and marijuana possession.

But according to Newsday, the Rev. Lloyd Land, of the First United Christian Church, described Garner as a "gentle giant" and said, "This guy was nobody's drug dealer. He doesn't drink liquor. He doesn't do drugs. What he does is he sells cigarettes. He sells cigarettes, 50 cents apiece. That's how he makes a living."

Since NYPD banned the use of choke holds several years ago, Pantaleo is toast. He’ll not only be canned, but you can expect him to face criminal charges for Garner’s death. It doesn’t help Pantaleo that within the past two years, three men sued him in federal court, accusing him of making unlawful, racially-motivated arrests. Other officers taking part in Garner’s arrest are likely to face suspensions.

OK, so NYPD has banned choke holds. I seriously doubt Pantaleo even thought about or deliberately violated the ban, but resorted instead to the choke hold as a reflex reaction to a huge man resisting arrest. Now, will someone please ask de Blasio to say how he expects the cops to subdue a man resisting arrest who weighs between 350 and 400 pounds.

And will someone also tell the NYPD brass and the district attorney not to make Pantaleo the victim of a black community's outrage and a political rush to judgment.