Protests have swept the nation in the aftermath of a Staten Island grand jury decision not to indict a white New York Police Department officer in the chokehold death of Eric Garner, a black man.
Like any major protest, rallies against the decision swelled from several organizing groups in addition to bystanders caught up in the furor, with undercurrent of outrage seeming to provide a common cause. But, perhaps unique to the moment, grassroots organizers have leveraged the power of social media to drive the large-scale demonstrations.
Just as social media fueled the initial attention to Garner's case after a video surfaced of police pinning him to the ground, social platforms became the rallying point for those looking to organize action after the decision.
Incredible silence among protesters in front of Macy's in New York pic.twitter.com/vloybHWzGk
— Louise Roug (@louiseroug) December 5, 2014
Eric Van Uffelen, an activist attempting to spread the word about recent protests in San Francisco, told Mashable that Twitter has been a powerful tool for organizers.
This is the civil rights movement of our time. The movement existsThis is the civil rights movement of our time. The movement exists," Van Uffelen said. "I think Twitter is incredibly powerful — it's a gateway to what is really happening."
Another activist involved in the protests in San Francisco, James Nielssen, told us social media was "by far the most effective tool" in organizing the demonstrations.
"The mainstream news channels don’t cover what we’re doing," the 20-year-old student said in an email. "The only way I found out about this was through social media, where the events are reported by the people directly involved with it."
While Garner's family and civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton announced a march that will take place on Dec. 13, smaller groups have called for immediate action, rallying support using Twitter and Facebook. Protesters poured onto the streets on Wednesday night, condemning the grand jury decision in Garner's case after they organized online. By Thursday evening, larger and more organized protests were held.
Join us & @NYCLU @ 5:30pm 2night for #EricGarner protest @ Foley Sq #NYC. We'll distribute free shirts w/ your rights pic.twitter.com/TQceiI5xEY
— ACLU National (@ACLU) December 4, 2014
Organized by a variety of civil rights groups, several protests popped up across New York City, from larger demonstrations at Union Square and Foley Square, to a small gathering at the Staten Island spot where Garner died. They were filled with commuters, Occupy Wall Street protesters and members of organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, among many others. It's unclear how many took to the streets on Dec. 4, but reports range from a few thousand to 7,500, and many were able to track the protests through the hashtags #ICantBreathe and #BlackLivesMatter.
More protests are expected Friday night and through the weekend. Several organizing groups have posted their plans on dedicated Facebook event pages. Others have shared rally details on a Tumblr page. A rally planned for Dec. 13 in New York already has over 20,000 planning to attend, according to a Facebook page for the demonstration. The event, planned for 2 p.m., local time, in Washington Square Park has been sent to almost 200,000 Facebook users. The rally will coincide with a national protest called by Sharpton and Garner's family in D.C.
Other groups, including the New York Justice League, tweeted out plans for a 6 p.m., local time, rally in Columbus Circle.
Tonight at Columbus Circle! #economicshutdown #ShutItDown #NOJUSTICENOPROFITS pic.twitter.com/K4dQNevT6G
— Carmen Perez (@carmenperez21) December 5, 2014
In San Francisco and cities across the U.S., activists are also using Twitter to gather support for protests. Some planned additional actions for Friday night.
@ekatesd signal boost for a San Francisco protest tonight? https://t.co/TadReLxEkP
— James Nielssen (@JNielss) December 5, 2014
What the conversation looked like on Twitter
Several of the grassroots organizations behind the protests tweeted messages to supporters on Thursday night that included meeting places and the times of planned actions. The American Civil Liberties Union even encouraged demonstrators to download an app that would help them report police abuses.
Protesting in #NY? Get @NYCLU app #knowyourrights, record abuses http://t.co/YY5QBBFCAo #ICantBreathe #EricGarner pic.twitter.com/HyYcOEGjoY
— ACLU National (@ACLU) December 4, 2014
In a more general sense, the Twitter conversation about the case has skyrocketed. Data from Topsy shows tweets containing the hashtags #ICantBreathe, #BlackLivesMatter and #EricGarner explode on Wednesday night following the grand jury decision.
Even more compelling is the broader picture around several hashtags that have become synonymous with the civil rights demonstrations across the nation after the decision in Garner's case, as well as a Missouri grand jury's decision not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. The map, below, shows the use of the hashtags #BlackLivesMatter, #HandsUpDontShoot and #ICantBreathe on Twitter from Nov. 24, when the Missouri grand jury's decision was announced.
The conversation exploded on that evening and continued consistently on, before exploding again on Dec. 3 when the announcement was made in the Garner case.
Social media allows demonstrators to 'plug in'
Some organizers believe that social media has given a new scale to the protests.
"I think social media has amplified the potential for people to plug in to actions that they know are happening in their communities," Mervyn Marcano, a spokesperson for Ferguson Action, told Mashable.
The group works to coordinate demonstrations nationally, after the Ferguson decision. Ferguson Action's coalition of civil rights group have been listing national protests on its website.
"People can plug in through Ferguson Action to their local groups," Marcano said. "We wanted to continue building national momentum based on work happening on the ground in Ferguson."
He emphasized that there was not just one organization behind the recent protests over the Garner decision.
"We don’t necessarily believe that any one group or any one person has the right idea. We think there is a silent majority of people that believe black lives matter, and we are giving them a way to make their voices heard," Marcano said. "Social media allows people to take simple actions that resonate widely."
December 4 Eric Garner Protests
Additional reporting by Kate Sommers-Dawes
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