Bill Clinton Says Eric Garner “Didn’t Deserve To Die” For Selling Untaxed Cigarettes
In an interview with Fusion that will air in its entirety Tuesday evening, former President Bill Clinton told interviewer Jorge Ramos that Eric Garner did not deserve to die for the minor crime of selling untaxed cigarettes. Clinton expressed sympathy for Garner’s family and echoed many of the same points that his wife Hillary touched on earlier this month when she discussed the Staten Island grand jury decision surrounding Garner’s death. On December 3rd, the grand jury decided not to indict NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Garner, even though there was video evidence showing Pantaleo using an illegal chokehold and a medical examiner had ruled Garner’s death a homicide.
“He was obviously not well, he was overweight and vulnerable therefore had lung problems, heart and lung problems. He was doing something he should not have been doing. That was illegal. He was selling untaxed cigarettes on the street in small volumes, trying to make a little extra money.But he didn’t deserve to die because of that.”
The interview will also feature Clinton discussing issues of race as it involves law enforcement and how racial tension has been exacerbated by these two grand jury decisions and the feeling among the black community that they are being targeted by police. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton touched on this the day after the Garner decision was announced.Prior to a scheduled speech in Massachusetts that day, Mrs. Clinton offered these remarks:
“Each of us has to grapple with some hard truths about race and justice in America. Because despite all the progress we’ve made together, African-Americans, and most particularly, African-American men, are still more likely to be stopped and searched by police, charge with crimes, and sentenced to longer prison terms.
The United States has less than 5% of the world’s population, yet we have almost 25% of the world’s total prison population. It is because we have allowed our criminal justice system to get out of balance. And I personally hope that these tragedies give us the opportunity to come together as a nation to find our balance again.
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/12/16/bill-clinton-eric-garner-didnt-deserve-die-selling-untaxed-cigarettes.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
