Protesters streamed into an Apple Store in New York City on Friday to stage a “die-in” and call attention to a man who died at the hands of a police officer.
The peaceful Apple Store invasion came on the third night of protests after a grand jury failed to indict the cop who killed Eric Garner, a 43-year-old black man who was stopped on the street for selling cigarettes. Garner, who was asthmatic, died after Officer Daniel Pantaleo applied an apparent choke-hold.
Die in at the Apple Store on 5th Ave. #ErciGarner #Justice4EricGarner pic.twitter.com/XVLQvQDLMZ
— Stephanie Keith (@Steffikeith) December 5, 2014
The dying man’s cries of “I can’t breathe” have become watch words of a growing protest movement to address perceived injustices when black men encounter white police.
Inside the store, protesters — some carrying selfie sticks, bullhorns and coffee cups — chanted slogans and sprawled out on the floor to feign death. Many posted photos of the protest on Twitter.
Brooklyn protester Zandir Santos, 30, said Apple was targeted along with other high-profile stores to send a message to corporate America.
“The CEO of Apple knows we shut his store down — that means capitalist America is going to take us seriously,” he told USA Today. “We are going to shake up your business and we want to hit you where it hurts.”
New York #EricGarner Protest Die-In #Apple Store 5th Ave @JoshEiniger7 pic.twitter.com/mOyZcAAB4e
— Lnonblonde (@Lnonblonde) December 6, 2014
Aside from the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue, protesters on Friday also hit Macy’s Herald Square store (just as they did on Black Friday to call attention to a similar grand jury ruling in Ferguson, Missouri).
At the Apple Store, protester Chernell Brown laid on the floor in to call attention to the Ferguson case, in which Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black man, was shot to death by a police officer after resisting arrest.
“This is our house,” said Chernell Brown, according to USA Today. “No more business as usual. Revolution is not comfortable.”
Lewis Wallace is the managing editor of Cult of Mac and author of our weekly newsletter, The Weekender.
He’s a San Francisco-based writer and editor specializing in technology and culture. He loves his iPhone, hates Siri, and appreciates any hardware that combines form and function.
Prior to Cult of Mac, he juggled words and ideas as culture editor at Wired.com, homepage editor at TechTV, news product manager at NBCi, copy editor at PC World, reporter at The (Hayward) Daily Review and editor in chief of EveryBody’s News in Cincinnati.
He earned a bachelor of general studies degree with a journalism certificate from the University of Cincinnati. While in school, he worked as the entertainment editor of The News Record and as editor in chief of Clifton Magazine.
He’s also a bass player, who’s recorded and performed around the United States with Those Darn Accordions, The Electric Boogie Dawgz and The Mad Maggies. When not writing, editing or laying down bass lines, he plays darts and serves on the board of the San Francisco Darts League.
39 responses to “Apple Store ‘die-in’ sends message to ‘capitalist America’ about police violence”
People call anyone racist nowdays. Even if you ll do is tell the facts. Here is a real fact. Proven by DOJ statistics.
Resisting arrest kills more than race.
You do with that fact what you wish. I know what to do.
Um…yes…and you resisted because I say you resisted, so I obviously had to shoot you 11 times in the head, to stop you from resisting. It’s all very clear, Mr. Alaska. What ever happened to that ex-governor who disemboweled turkeys on live TV?
Non sequitir. Just because some is “un-armed” doesn’t mean they’re defenseless.
These protests are the defense, too bad it’s posthumously presented.
These protests are idiotic.
I suppose you are one of those LWNJ. just as they are RWNJ, your type exist too. LOL.
Now, why so defensive? I presented a fact, do facts hurt you? They shouldnt. I didnt take any sides but you showed the same stupidity as the ranting tea partiers. You are one and the same.
When people cant even accept facts, you, my boy, already lost the debate.
Now taking sides. Facts also show that the two events, which i am also sadden by, that took place, both individuals did resist arrest. Maybe, intelligent people could use those facts and say, lets behave better. Or they can do nothing and the problem will continue. Your choice.
There is no doubt that the police abuse power sometimes, there is no doubt that with gardner excessive use of force was applied, but we know this after the fact, but ok.
What i cannot do is, unlike you, is to say that is only the police fault. That is treating blacks like children without responsibilities. And they are responsible for their own behavior. Problems can only be solved when both parties come to the table. But you never will comprehend that.
By the way, i am a democrat you asshole! Get a life and learn to reason once.
Jajajajajajaja!
I suppose you are one of those LWNJ. just as they are RWNJ, your type exist too. LOL.
Now, why so defensive? I presented a fact, do facts hurt you? They shouldnt. I didnt take any sides but you showed the same stupidity as the ranting tea partiers. You are one and the same.
When people cant even accept facts, you, my boy, already lost the debate.
Now taking sides. Facts also show that the two events, which i am also sadden by, that took place, both individuals did resist arrest. Maybe, intelligent people could use those facts and say, lets behave better. Or they can do nothing and the problem will continue. Your choice.
There is no doubt that the police abuse power sometimes, there is no doubt that with gardner excessive use of force was applied, but we know this after the fact, but ok.
What i cannot do is, unlike you, is to say that is only the police fault. That is treating blacks like children withoutmresponsibilities. And they are responsible for their own behavior. Problems can only be solved when both parties come to the table. But you never will comprehend that.
By the way, i am a democrat you asshole! Get a life and learn to reason once.
Jajajajajajaja!
Calm your bed. Nobody wanna hear that shit. Lol
And what did Apple do to deserve these idiots to play dead in their store? Why didn’t they do this in front of the police station of the cop that administered the choking?
Apple can’t do anything about the cop that choked that kid, they aren’t the Governement or lawmakers or a court. Jeez. What freakin MO-RONS.
I was going to say the same thing. I get people want to protest, but what in the word is Apple and Macy’s going to do about police violence.
If people read the news they would realize apple’s implementation of Activation Lock actually reduced smart phone theft in NYC… So let’s protest people who are helping the crime problem? These protesters are incredibly misguided.
these idiots don’t comprehend the fact that they are causing a fire hazard in a store operated by companies that have absolutely NOTHING to do with it. I would have called the cops and had everyone of those idiots arrested. What they did was ridiculous.
They didn’t go to the microsoft store, they asked everybody, let’s go protest at the microsoft store and everyone was all like, “but I want to checkout the new iPhone my update is almost here and should I get the plus or just the plain 6 and then we can play dead”
No one shops at Microsoft stores, so they wouldn’t have gotten any attention. About the only that would have happened is the Microsoft employees would have to break out in their normal dance routine and step over these chuckleheads. (I couldn’t resist). :-)
Yeah, you know who else “solves problems” laying on the floor?
Toddlers.
This.
what the hell is this doing by people out side the apple store is there any new marketing strategy ?
Here’s what the idiot behind this was thinking…… “Let’s bring awareness to something that’s already getting national attention by causing a fire hazard at the local Apple store. That’ll teach them to end police violence.”
It would have been funny if people just ignored them and simply stomping over them on their heads and private parts to check out an iPad, MacBook, etc. I wonder what they would do? Get upset?
Hey, if you were one of the people involved with these protests at an Apple Store or another place people do shopping, here’s a message to you. You ARE an idiot. Next time go to somewhere else and don’t bother companies and people that have absolutely nothing to do with this. Seriously, you should think about others that you are endangering by causing a fire hazard.
Agreed don’t disrupt Apple if they weren’t the cause of your problems. Sides anyway all the people who went that rally probably were Android fans just wanting to disrupt Apple.
This is weird, people are protesting that police did their job. Police job is to arrest or eliminate thiefs, burglars… and that guy died because he was behaving like an i_diot. Like those leftists ( neomarxist ) who think they can do mess but refuse to take their responsibility later..
The blacks and Latinos wanted more police in their neighborhoods, so of course the stats will show more of them being arrested or “stop and frisked”.
This isn’t going to change shit. All the protesters were hoping for was looting to start so they could get their piece “From da man”
This is stupid. Why should we care about a bunch of uninformed morons who obviously have nothing better to do? Why is it that people who are outraged over something never actually stop to read the facts? Oh wait… the media doesn’t report facts. It sensationalizes everything.
I’m sure it didn’t truly bother Apple too much. It got them in the news, and how they handle the matter in the aftermath could get them even more publicity. Yeah, the store lost holiday sales, but it was a blip. It’s not like those customers went and bought Android phones.
This just in: Samsung stages protest at Samsung display at best buy for police violence to counter Apple Store protests. Samsung CEO says “We won’t take this laying down while taking this laying down!”
These Brooklyn Babies have nothing better to do to appease their need for attention. What does their hypocritical problem with corporate America have to do with the police-racial issues?! This is why these same people failed at Occupy Wall St., this is why they failed at this stunt, and this why they will continue to be losers — they have nothing narcissism to talk about.
I doubt most of them were ever babies from Brooklyn. They more than likely moved to Brooklyn and all of sudden they are now somehow real New Yorkers.
If the guy wasn’t at the stoop illegally selling smokes, none of this would have happened. If he had just listened to police, none of this would have happened. If he was innocent, he could sue for negligence.
There is certainly truth in that but the type of force used for that situation was unjustified, and especially after he said he couldn’t breathe. The man was already down on the ground and unlikely to get up quickly, being so overweight. The smart thing would have been to back off and make sure he really wasn’t having breathing issues. How long would that have taken?
Many cops today are not only poorly educated and poor communicators, but they have dangerous superiority complexes and control issues that they like to take out on the public that they are supposed to be protecting and serving in the first place. I know many people today that fear getting pulled over by the police for fear of police abuse and brutality. People shouldn’t be feeling that way for a traffic violation. These kind of cops could end up triggering a revolution in America.
As for the protestors? They are mostly young and ignorant. Many of them like to dishonestly play the race card and/or are anarchists. If they really care then they need to focus on the real problem of police abuse and brutality, not the often made up claims of racism. As far as I can see, the bad cops don’t care what the color of your skin is. They will harrass and assault anyone.
so, how much merchandise disappeared from the showroom?
It seems like they are just protesting death in general. The protestors should have had a meeting beforehand to agree on a cause. One guy has a sign against isis. Another lady has a sign with the names of dead black people. Treyvon Martin was not shot by a police officer.
Plus i bet half that crowd is in line for the genius bar
The ISIS sign talks about how only 3 americans have been killed by them but hundreds if not thousands of americans have been killed by police
Don’t these people have anything better to do? I wish I had all this time to take a nap in an Apple store
Neither the Ferguson incident or the NYC incident, on their own, show any evidence for racism. The later though shows abuse of authority by police, which is the real problem we have.
It’s a shame to have to say it but I see far, far, more racism coming from blacks than from whites. Far too many blacks wave the flag of racism. Of course the politically correct and cowardly media, and troublemaking instigators like the Al Sharpton, who in my opinion is a racist, only encourage such thinking and victim mentality.
What needs to happen to address the abuse of authority by police is to first make them far more accountable than a normal citizen since they, along with politicians, have been entrusted to protect and to serve the public. When that trust is violated they should be punished far more severely than other citizens, in the same way a commercial driver’s license holder is penalized more harshly for vehicular moving violations.
Internal affairs divisions within police departments need to be abolished and an outside agency at the state and/or federal level should take up that task.
No secret grand jury hearings for incidents involving potential police abuse. Who in their right mind thought that would be a good idea?
The minimum age for police officers should be raised, as well as education requirements.
Tougher psychological screening to filter out the kind of cops that are in it for the power and control issues that they have.
Serious communication skills need to be taught to new police officers, since most cops, at best, have the charm and charisma of a rock.
No military style weapons and uniforms. As a 20 year veteran I find it disgusting and offensive to see cops trying to act like soldiers. In fact, they are doing far worse since many of them are acting like Nazi soldiers.
An easier way for the public to make complaints against police officers and police forces, at those state and federal agencies I mentioned.
Make it a serious federal crime for any police officer to take away someone’s phone or camera, in matters that do not affect national security, in an attempt to hide their abuse and crimes.
Strictly limit the number of police officers that respond to incidents so you don’t have the typical wolfpack mentality you often see from cops. It doesn’t take 15 cops to restrain someone.
A cop fired for even mild abuse will lose the option of being a police officer anywhere else.
Those are just some common sense ideas that could go a long way towards addressing many of the low life cops patrolling our streets.
A lot of people belong to mental asylums.
“Sending a message to Capitalist America”? So, are these protesters saying they are Communist, Socialist, Anarchist or what? There seems to be an agenda at work here that’s highly and purposely organized not to solve anything, but to create greater tensions between blacks and whites, and people who work for a living and those who expect to be supported by those people who work.
Using the word “capitalist” brings with it all the baggage of “exploiting the downtrodden worker” from Marxist theory, and the ever-constant myth of class struggle. The vast majority of the poor in the US have homes, refrigerators, TVs, food stamps, government benefits, unemployment insurance payments and free medical care — all provided by the taxes and government programs paid for by people who work and by businesses like Apple Inc. We live in a free-market system where companies live and die determined by the public, who either buy or don’t buy their products and/or services.
Just what the heck is this protest accomplishing? “We can shut down your business” — why? You want to put out of business the type of people who pay for all this free stuff? It is illogical in the extreme. This is a purposeful attempt to increase antagonism between factions. Read up on your Karl Marx and you’ll recognize the process of sowing dissent as a precursor to revolution. Instead of solving the problems and bringing people together, this type of “peaceful action” only stirs up more confrontation, damage and destruction. Did Apple employees kill anyone? Did Apple back the police or contribute in any way to the death of anyone in Ferguson? If you want to protest, at very least figure out who you should be protesting to so that you can send an effective and intelligent message.
#reallynotreally
If the case is made that big business holds the lawmakers in their pockets then this protest and the ones at other high-profile stores makes a little sense. I think they are trying to make a point and the way to do that is not to play dead in one of their backyards but to do it where it will be noticed. It is to disrupt regular people and make them aware of this agenda.
It would be more interesting if these people did this at police stations, laying down in the parking lot in front of and behind police cars with signs that say something like, “No one dies today.” If I organized such an effort that is how I would handle it, and I would have friends video recording and I would contact local news media inviting them to the event.
These peaceful protests are not likely to work. Historically it is not until violence breaks out that real immediate action and results take place. I fear that is around the corner.
Peaceful invasion ? Are you stupid?
Nothing but a bunch of racists in this thread.