On Wednesday the wife of Eric Garner spoke to reporters following a grand jury decision to not indict the police officer who choked her husband death.
Esaw Garner addressed the media shortly after the grand jury’s decision came down, telling reporters “I’m determined to get justice for my husband.” She was joined by Rev. Al Sharpton and members of her family, including her late husband’s son Emory and mother Gwen Carr.
“He shouldn’t have been killed in that way,” she said. “He shouldn’t have been killed in any way.”
As for Daniel Pantaleo, the Staten Island NYPD officer who killed her husband, Garner expressed no interest in the condolences he offered. Pantaleo released a statement earlier, saying ”
It is never my intention to hurt anyone and I feel very bad about the death of Mr. Garner. My family and I include him and his family in our prayers and I hope they will accept my personal condolences for their loss.”
“I could care less about his condolences,” Garner said at the conference on Wednesday. “He’s still working, he’s still getting a paycheck, he’s still feeding his kids. And my husband is 6 feet under, and I’m looking for a way to feed my kids now.”
“Hell no,” she answered when asked if she would accept Pantaleo’s apology.
“The time for remorse would have been when my husband was screaming to breath,” she said. “That would have been the time for him to show some type of remorse or some type of care for another human being’s life, when he was screaming 11 times that he can’t breathe.”
At the press conference, Sharpton announced a protest march in Washington on Dec. 13.
“We have no confidence in local state prosecutions because state prosecutors work hand in hand with the local police,” he said.
“This fight ain’t over. It’s just begun,” she said. “As long as I have a breath in my body,” she said, “I will fight the fight to the end.”
Screencap via ABC.
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