Tensions flare at hearing over the law that shields police records from public view
The mothers of black men who died at the hands of police officers gave emotional testimony at a State Senate hearing on Thursday, as some legislators push to repeal a law that advocates say masks officer misconduct.
New York Civil Rights Law Section 50-a, passed in the 1970s, allows personal records of police, firefighters and correctional officers to be shielded from public view. The NYPD has used the law to deny public access to records of officers involved in high-profile incidents of police brutality, notably refusing to disclose the disciplinary history of officer Daniel Pantaleo, who put Eric Garner in a chokehold during an arrest in 2014, leading to Garner’s death.
Garner’s shouts of “I can’t breathe” as he died became a rallying cry for the growing movement against police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement. Pantaleo was fired earlier this year.
Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, spoke at the hearing about how Section 50-a has made it difficult for her to learn about her son’s final moments.