Rep. Peter King on ‘Obese’ Eric Garner: ‘If You Can’t Breathe, You Can’t Talk’ [View all]

[RandySF]

Rep. Peter King (R-NY) followed up on his tweet thanking the grand jury for deciding not to indict the officer who killed Eric Garner with a chokehold by explaining his take on the case to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Wednesday evening. Despite the video evidence of Garner repeatedly saying “I can’t breathe” as officers tackled him the ground and choked him until he ultimately died, King would not allow that excessive force had been used.

“First of all, the death was tragic, and our hearts have to go out to the Garner family,” King began. Getting that obligatory statement out of the way, the congressman reiterated that he does not believe the officer should have been indicted and proceeded to defend the police actions.

“If he had not had asthma and a heart condition and was so obese, almost definitely he would not have died for this,” King said of Garner. “The police had no reason to know he was in serious condition.” On Garner repeating “I can’t breathe,” King said, “the fact of the matter is, if you can’t breathe, you can’t talk.” He even suggested that Garner may have been faking those symptoms so the police would go easier on him.

“People are saying very casually that this was done out of racial motives or violation of civil rights,” he continued. “There’s not a hint there that anyone used any racial epithet.” He said he has “no doubt” that a “350 pound white guy” would have been treated the same way.


http://www.mediaite.com/tv/rep-peter-king-on-obese-eric-garner-if-you-cant-breathe-you-cant-talk/