DOJ Investigating An 'American Problem' In New York, Ferguson And Cleveland

NPR

Published December 4, 2014 at 12:06 PM EST

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U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder speaks at the Justice Department December 3, 2014 in Washington, D.C. about the recent decision by a Staten Island grand jury not to indict a police officer in the chokehold death of Eric Garner. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

After the Grand Jury in Staten Island, New York, declined to indict Daniel Pantaleo, the police officer who killed Eric Garner, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it would launch a federal civil rights investigation into the death.

Meanwhile, separate investigations are underway in Ferguson, Missouri, where 18-year-old Michael Brown was fatally shot by a police officer, and Cleveland, Ohio, where 12-year-old Tamir Rice was killed by an officer while carrying a BB gun.

NPR’s Ron Elving talks to Here & Now’s Peter O’Dowd about where those investigations stand and what kind of political reaction each case is getting.

Guest

Ron Elving, senior Washington editor and correspondent for NPR. He tweets @relving.