Why was he arrested? Why were the cops called in the first place? Was he minding his own business, drinking coffee? Why were people killed during prohibition? Why were people in imprisoned back then? Just for drinking a beer?

I love the echo chamber of the left wing where people who break a law, resist arrest, and then complain that the law breaker was injured.

I am against this taxation on a legal substance that makes perfectly good people a law breakers. In my world, he isn't dead, because he wasn't doing anything I would be concerned in the least about. COps should be out protectoing people- not collecting taxes. It is your "progressive" side that made him a criminal - should items be taxed? Yep! Should they be taxed at 500%? I suppose it is within the law, but there will be consequences. Now deal with it- which is another thing your side can't bring themselves to do, be responsible for your own actions.

I don't smoke and I personally don't care for the smell, very happy after getting a few beers to not smell like a tobacco factory. But i do have a difficult time with the criminalization of using a legal substance. I have a difficult time with the 10,000 laws where the government can pick you up anytime they wish and get you for something... anything.

This is the world you helped make, I didn't.

You are correct, it is not illegal, but it is prohibited which supports the case for the cops negligence in this particular case. The choke hold had shown itself to be dangerous in the past, so much so that the NYPD had prohibited its use and has trained its cops not to use it. Here we have a cop that disregarded both policy and training and employed a prohibited tactic that resulted in death. For me a couple of things become evident, one the reason that the hold is prohibited is because the NYPD based on prior experience deemed it to be dangerous and life threatening, secondly the cop disregarded policy and therefore it is arguable that he behaved in a manner that most reasonable people would not have, a very key component in establishing negligence. There is no arguing against the fact that the man died at the hands of the cop, so when you combine the cops negligent disregard for policy and the death of the non-violent offender as a direct result of the cops disregard for policy, then you have a negligent homicide in my book... but I am not an attorney, I only play one in bars when meeting women... so what do I know?