New York police are defending themselves against accusations of racism after protests were sparked by a grand jury decision not to prosecute an officer who choked father-of-six Eric Garner to death.
The police union in New York says the city's officers have been betrayed, after members of Congress and the Mayor of New York expressed astonishment at the grand jury's decision.
Our Washington Correspondent Simon Marks reports.
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If the New York Police are feeling bad…even regretful about Eric Garner's death at the hands of Officer Daniel Pantaleo…at least their union representatives aren't showing it.
The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association is a coalition of three separate trade unions that represent police on the New York beat.
Patrick Lynch, its President, told reports Officer Pantaleo was simply doing his job on the mean streets of the Big Apple when he wrestled Eric Garner to the ground and killed him.
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The union leader said protesters who have objected to the grand jury's decision not to charge the officer are "anarchists".
He said the grand jury's decision was "courageous".
And he rounded on elected officials….members of Congress and New York's Mayor…who have expressed consternation that there will now be no criminal case.
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The union is demanding that the New York Police Department allows Officer Pantaleo to return to the beat.
Reflecting public opinion, the New York Times in its Thursday edition called for him to be fired.
The officer himself issued a statement offering condolences to the family of Eric Garner.
His wife, Esau, told NBC television it's too late for that.
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And she poured scorn on suggestions voiced by the police union that if Eric Garner had wanted to live, he wouldn't have resisted arrest.
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Meanwhile, in Cleveland…where a 12 year old boy, killed by police, was buried earlier this week….Attorney General Eric Holder began what President Obama says will be a series of national conversations about law enforcement.
And he kicked them off with a stunning indictment of the Cleveland Police, citing a series of high profile, racially charged incidents in the city.
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That kind of assertion puts the White House on a collision course with the view, as it was presented on Thursday at least by New York's police union.
Again, the PBA's Patrick Lynch.
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This is an issue that will not go away any time soon.
Civil rights leaders are organizing a march on Washington in ten days time to put additional pressure on the government to take action to get police to understand the scale of public concern.
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