Eric Garner Memorial Mysteriously Catches Fire On MLK Day

A man in a mask stops at a memorial near the site of Eric Garner's death after it was announced that the New York police officer involved in the death of Garner is not being indicted in the borough of Staten Island ... A man in a mask stops at a memorial near the site of Eric Garner's death after it was announced that the New York police officer involved in the death of Garner is not being indicted in the borough of Staten Island in New York, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014. A grand jury cleared the white New York City police officer Wednesday in the videotaped chokehold death of Garner, an unarmed black man, who had been stopped on suspicion of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes, a lawyer for the victim's family said. A video shot by an onlooker and widely viewed on the Internet showed the 43-year-old Garner telling a group of police officers to leave him alone as they tried to arrest him. The city medical examiner ruled Garner's death a homicide and found that a chokehold contributed to it. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) MORE LESS

January 20, 2015 9:16 a.m.

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The memorial to Eric Garner, the unarmed black man who died after he was put in a chokehold by a white New York police officer, reportedly burned down overnight on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

At about midnight, Garner’s daughter Erica tweeted, “evil set my dad’s memorial on fire tonight,” but called for people to rebuild it on Tuesday. She later tweeted photos. An organizer of the group Right of Way also tweeted photos of the memorial in tatters at about 2 a.m. on Tuesday, saying the display was “burned to the ground.”

Police said they suspected candles accidentally burned down the memorial, according to the New York Post.

In September, a similar makeshift memorial to slain black teenager Michael Brown mysteriously burned down in Ferguson, Mo. Police also said the fire was started by nearby candles, but locals reportedly suspected arson.

Tonight, on #MLKDay, #EricGarner‘s memorial was burned to the ground.
#ReclaimMLK. No justice, no peace. pic.twitter.com/QZA34DzWxd

— Keegan Stephan (@KeeganNYC) January 20, 2015

evil set my dads memoral on fire tonight .but cant erase his legacy. rebuild 2morrow #anonymousopfurguson #OpICantBreathe

— officialERICA GARNER (@es_snipes) January 20, 2015

can we have investigation looking into this???who can be held accountable for this #OpICantBreathe

— officialERICA GARNER (@es_snipes) January 20, 2015

Someone trashed the #EricGarner memorial tonight. “@es_snipes: pic.twitter.com/y0jW1pQBAA“

— Carmine (@carminemac) January 20, 2015

h/t Vocativ

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Brendan James

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