Who Won the Democratic Debate?: raceAhead

There were still no black, brown, Latina, Asian, Desi, Indigenous, Arabic, or AAPI women, etc., moderating at last night’s CNN Democratic debate, but you knew that going in. 

There were plenty of explosive moments as the heavy favorites, former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris, sparred against each other, while drawing fire from next-tier candidates.

The media is saturated with hot takes—the New York Times published a handy score sheet from diverse political commentators here, The Guardian did the same here, and The Root had a terrific live blog going.

Here’s my hot take: The winners were the family and friends of Eric Garner.

The moderators were forced to briefly halt the debate as shouts of “Fire Pantaleo!” came from the audience. The shouts were directed at New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, then a second round inexplicably interrupted New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker as he delivered his opening statement.  

And with that, Eric Garner joined the debate.

NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo is the man, moderator Jake Tapper was forced to explain, who used a prohibited chokehold to murder the unarmed Garner for barely participating in the informal economy. 

“I can’t breathe,” he gasped, eleven times.

The shouts came from protestors sitting in the audience; organizer and entrepreneur Tamika Mallory, who was among them, tweeted why they shouted, and what happened next:

“This is a thread about what occurred at the Democratic Debate when @KirstenJohnFoy, @Mysonne, @angelopinto720, @lsarsour and I made the decision to stand up for Eric Garner and the sanctity of Black life. #DemDebates,” she began.

“We could not sit silent while @NYCMayor Bill DeBlasio misrepresented his positions on Stop and Frisk and continues to employ the police officers who killed #EricGarner, in particular Daniel Pantaleo.”

Cue the first shout. 

The group had agreed to silently watch the rest of debate when they were later approached by a police officer and threatened with arrest if they didn’t leave. So, they shouted their way out of the venue and put Eric Garner’s name back into the mouths of the candidates.

Julián Castro, a former housing secretary and former mayor of San Antonio, said, “[t]hat police officer [Pantaleo] should be off the street.” Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York agreed: “He should be fired. He should be fired now.” 

And when CNN’s Jake Tapper asked why Pantaleo was still on the force, the New York City mayor said he knew the Garner family would get justice, perhaps in the next 30 days. “For the first time, we are not waiting on the federal Justice Department, which told the city of New York that we could not proceed because the Justice Department was pursuing their prosecution,” de Blasio said.

It also briefly opened up a necessary conversation about the federal role in policing. Said de Blasio to Biden, “Mr. Vice President, tell us, what did you do to try and spur on the Justice Department to act on the Garner case?”

The case against Pantaleo has been fraught from the beginning. 

A grand jury declined to file charges against him back in 2014, but two weeks ago, the Department of Justice announced it would not be filing federal charges against him, just skirting a statute of limitations deadline. 

Now, the New York Police Department’s Civilian Complaint Review Board has begun disciplinary proceedings against Pantaleo, who is facing a departmental trial, and possible dismissal. 

The wait has been frustrating for supporters. “The man who choked [Eric Garner] to death in front of the whole world, has been allowed to continue to enrich himself in the City of New York by remaining on the police force,” said Rev. Kirsten John Foy in a Detroit Free Press video interview after he was ejected from the event. 

Perhaps a long overdue reckoning may be at hand. Perhaps seizing on a shouted protest to confront a rival during a political debate should be looked at as a cynical maneuver. 

Or maybe police reform should have been a topic for discussion all along.

Several candidates have records that need further explanation, and it’s a topic of vital interest to many voters. And yet, with the exception of the occasional sharp elbow, there’s been little discussion of it so far in this campaign.

In any event, it was a validating moment for Garner’s supporters. And at least a black woman got to ask a damn question.