The Use of Chokeholds by The Police Must Be Banned With No Exceptions
Chokeholds at Best Can Cause Temporary or Permanent Brain Injury And at Worst, Lead to Death
“I can’t breathe” !!!
These were the words of George Floyd, handcuffed and face-down on the ground, as a Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee into his neck on May 25, 2020 for eight minutes and forty six seconds.
These words have now become familiar with a global audience of sympathizers and people who are totally befuddled about the occurence and audacity of such inhumanity of humanity against humanity.
Mr. Floyd died. His death has sparked worldwide demonstrations against police violence, racism, and calls for banning chokehold as a method of police restraint.
Police officers in Minneapolis had used the technique 237 times, and rendered 44 people unconscious with the neck restraint since the beginning of 2015, according to NBC News.
Despite the fact that the Portland police department banned chokeholds thirty five years ago, the contentious restraining method persisted in several police departments in the USA.
The story of Portland’s ban was retold in an article by Douglas Perry of the Oregonian/OregonLive and was updated on Jun 17, 2020.
The cutting off of the airflow through the windpipe that carries air to the lungs is what we recognize when victims of chokehold agonizingly beg for their lives saying; “I can’t breathe”.
Another major event happens simultaneously during chokehold which is just as perilous as the shutting off of air to the lungs.
That event is the blockage of the blood flow to the brain via the internal carotid artery, (Image 1:48); and the prevention of blood flow from the brain back to the heart via the internal jugular vein, (Image 2:43). This ominous event leads to loss of consciousness followed by brain death within a few minutes.
A chokehold, also known as “carotid artery hold” is a form of tight tourniquet. When it is applied with the arm, the knee or by any means to the neck of a human being, it cuts off air to the lungs. It also chokes the carotid artery (Image 1:49), which supplies blood containing nourishment and oxygen to the head where the brain resides.
Why Chokeholds Should Be Banned Without Any Exceptions.
From the moment a child enters the world to the time of exit from the world at whatever age, one thing is guaranteed by nature. Free air containing oxygen.
Whether you are inside in a building or outside in an open area, you have access to free air.
It matters not whether you are a family of ten people living in a one room space or you live alone in a multimillion dollar mansion. The air we all breathe is free of charge and there is a reason for this free gift.
Air is sacred and Divine. “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” — Genesis 2: 7 (King James’ Version).
Therefore, the deliberate undoing of this Divine perfect job should be out of bounds for we mere mortals.
Chokehold has shown not to be the appropriate ‘policing’ methodology some authorities have proclaimed it to be. It is a trilogy of apprehending a human being, passing judgement and sentencing by one person or group of persons at the same scene.
A chokehold can lead to temporary or irreversible brain injury if the individual is lucky, and in the not so lucky person, it can lead to brain death. Recently, we have witnessed several examples of this unfortunate inhumane ending of the lives of our fellow citizens.
By allowing any law enforcement entity to employ chokehold as a tool for protecting society, we, as a society, are empowering that entity to administer instant judgement to the apprehended individual without due process.
Sadly, that judgement has led to inexcusable deaths. Also, as revealed in several instances, it has turned out to be patently unjust and premeditated on stereotypes and conscious and sub-conscious bias.
Where are the seat of our spirit and our soul in our mortal body? Your guess is as good as mine. However, one thing is true. The seat and the ‘nature’ of the human mind, the site of origin of our thoughts, our character, our mobility and our essential being reside in our brains.
There should be absolutely no place for use of chokehold or any form of tornique in that fashion in human society.
This is not an ideological issue. This is a humane issue, a city issue, a state issue, a national issue. It is an issue of fairness. Indeed, some people would argue that chokeholds — “carotid artery holds” — constitute depravity of humankind.
This issue is particularly crucial in a society where the initial impression of the inhabitants is determined largely by the complexion of the covering of our flesh and bones — the skin color. An impression based on a superficiality, i.e. skin color, which in reality, has nothing to do with the character and essence of that individual.
Our elected leaders at the local, state and federal levels must enact laws to ban chokehold by all police departments with no exceptions. The people deserve this basic guarantee of human dignity.
Those elected officials who are tiptoeing around this issue must reconsider their stance. They must summon the courage to stand unequivocally for human worthiness and be on the right side of history.
