Protesters and the Christmas Tree Lighting

"I CAN'T BREATHE."

"HANDS UP, DON'T SHOOT."

"NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE, NO RACIST POLICE."

"MERRY CHRISTMAS."

What better way to convince Americans that we are a nation of racists with a racist police force and a racist justice system than to disrupt Christmas tree lighting events?

From Twitchy:

@NGabesWorld @arimckee @NYPDCommAffairs They gonna hear us tonight though. Rockefeller Ctr. Tree Lighting #SHUTITDOWN #JusticeforEricGarner

— Melody Cooper (@melodyMcooper) December 3, 2014

I love the tree lighting at The Rockefeller Center. But FUCK THAT this year. I hope somebody tries to set that bitch on fire.

— Slum Beautiful (@TheJazzyBelle) December 3, 2014

@wesleymuhamma #BlackLivesMatter #ShutItDown Somebody is Lighting a XMas Tree 2nite and it seems they just Invited me pic.twitter.com/AV8HVMKVjt

— Divine Justice (@FRICTION456) December 3, 2014

@TheJazzyBelle Burn that tree down! Season's Greetings motherfuckers! #ShutItDown

— SJ (@Jetset636) December 3, 2014

Hope they set that damn tree on fire. Fuck your pagan holidays. Innocent lives are being taken without consequences.

— Scruffy Combs (@NaptownStar_) December 3, 2014

From WCBS New York:

Protesters gathered around the city late Wednesday afternoon into the evening, following a decision by a grand jury not to indict an NYPD officer involved in the apparent chokehold death of Eric Garner.

Much as they did last week following a grand jury decision in the Michael Brown case in Ferguson, Missouri, protesters flooded the West Side Highway, shutting down traffic near 51st Street. Drivers found themselves flanked on all sides by protesters.

...Earlier, some protesters said they planned to disrupt the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center between 7 and 9 p.m., CBS2’s Tony Aiello reported.

As CBS2’s Tracee Carrasco reported, protesters had arrived at Rockefeller Plaza from Times Square by 6:15 p.m. Some were on the sidewalk chanting and holding signs, as others crowded the area for the annual holiday event.

But the NYPD would not let the protesters get anywhere near the Christmas tree.

The protesters remained on the streets some distance away chanted, “hands up, don’t shoot,” as well as, “I can’t breathe” — which Garner was heard saying on video after he was taken down by the apparent chokehold.

Others, referencing the tree-lighting ceremony, said, “No justice, no tree,” Carrasco reported.

“The lives of black young men, black children, they matter,” protester Florence Johnson said at Times Square.

From USA Today:

Standing with the widow, mother and children of Garner, the Rev. Al Sharpton decried the grand jury decision at the Harlem, N.Y., headquarters of Sharpton's National Action Network, a civil rights organization.

"How many people have to die before people have to understand this is not an illusion?" Sharpton asked, as one of Garner's daughters wiped away tears.

"This is a reality that America has got to come to terms with," he said.

Sharpton called for a national march to take place in Washington Dec. 13 to press for changes in the justice system. "We are not advocating violence, we are asking that police violence stop," he said.

That's right, Al. Police across the country are completely out of control, lashing out violently, targeting African Americans. Yup. That's exactly where we are.

GIVE ME A BREAK!

A crowd of an estimated 200-300 protesters gathered in Times Square shortly before 5:30 p.m. Massing in a pedestrian area below the financial data streaming across the façade of the Nasdaq building, protestors alternated chants of Eric Garner's last words, "I Can't Breathe," with "Hands up, Don't shoot," and "No Justice, No Peace, No Racist Police."

Brooklyn resident Timothy Duwhite, 24, said he joined the demonstration because he'd lost faith in the U.S. justice system.

"I'm not even interested in a trial at this point," he said, referring to the New York City police officer who put Garner in a chokehold. "It would just make the public think that the system is working, and it's not. It would just lull people into thinking everything's okay."

Bad things do happen.

There are injustices.

Sometimes, the courts do get things wrong. We have a system that allows for appeals when it appears that justice has not been done.

From that standpoint, everything is OK. Everything is not broken.

Good grief.

Every day and night, police officers across the country are risking their lives to protect Americans. And what thanks do they get?

Obama and Eric Holder suggest that they are the thugs. They need additional training to get them to stop killing African Americans because they feel like it.

The Leftists seem to be doing all they can to keep the nation focused on this terrible institutionalized racism that permeates every sector of our society instead of issues such as Obama's executive amnesty and his violation of the Constitution. They don't want Americans talking about Obama's economic failures.

"BURN THAT TREE DOWN!"

And Merry Christmas to you, too!