The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A BAHAMAS-born man who was choked and killed by American police more than 40 years ago was remembered in New York City on Sunday.

Thrity-year-old Arthur Miller was killed on June 14, 1978, in New York City by local police after an officer "choked him into submission," while using a nightstick.

Mr Miller, who had relocated to Brooklyn from The Bahamas in 1960, was a community leader, business owner and entrepreneur before his life was snuffed out during that fatal night.

According to international reports, Miller's death came at the hands of white police officers, who were initially searching for his brother, Samuel, during that summer night.

Officers had wanted to serve Miller's brother with a court summons for reports stating that debris had piled up at a construction site the Millers were using to transfer into a wedding hall.

Having found Samuel on the day in question, officers discovered a license check which showed that he was driving with a suspended license.

According to reports, Samuel denied the issue, claiming he had paid his fines. This then caused officers to call for more manpower, when two more officers arrived to the scene to arrest him.

After Samuel fled from the officers, escaping arrest, more cops rushed to the area. According to reports, Miller's two brothers, Arthur and Joseph, also eventually arrived at the scene.

Officers confronted them and saw Arthur with a licensed handgun at his waist.

"In the ensuing chaos, police subdued and choked Arthur Miller. Witnesses said foam was coming from his mouth, and they could see his feet sticking out of a police car window as it drove off, the Times reported."

According to reports, Miller died at the 77th Precinct station house.

Nine of the officers connected to the incident refused to speak with police investigators concerning the matter, according to reports. As a result, none of the them was charged.

"Mr. Miller was the first 'I can't breathe' in modern times," Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams was quoted by the New York Daily News as saying on Sunday," an international report stated.

"If we had responded then, we'd be living in a different city and country today. A young child left without a father because the institution supposed to help and protect decided to hurt and murder."

Miller's death sparked activism against police brutality and excessive force in New York.

It even led to the creation of a patrol system against local police in the community, which was organized by two organizations, the Black United Front and the East.

"Though Miller's death sparked protests and petitions, a grand jury refused to indict any of the officers involved," a report added.

And, it wasn't until decades later that the use of chokeholds by police was officially banned in New York.

"A police ban on chokeholds in New York did not happen until last week, when in the wake of national protests over the choking to death of George Floyd and before him, Eric Gardner, New York finally moved to pass police reforms that included a ban on chokeholds."

"Miller's son, Lamor Miller Whitehead, said of the decades delay in passing a ban: "It's ludicrous, ludicrous…it hurts."