Comparing the cases of Michael Brown, Eric Garner
The cases of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in New York City involve an unarmed black man killed by a white police officer in a confrontation over a relatively minor crime. But there are sharp differences, too, in the circumstances of Brown’s Aug. 9 killing and Garner’s July 17 killing.
— Video: No one recorded video of Brown’s fatal encounter with Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. Most of Garner’s confrontation with officer Daniel Pantaleo was recorded by a bystander. That video was given to a newspaper and posted online before the killing was even a day old, eliminating most mystery over the facts.
— Why they were stopped: Wilson initially stopped Brown to tell him to stop walking in the street. New York police were trying to arrest Garner on a charge of selling black-market cigarettes.