A Republican congressman defended a New York City grand jury's decision not to indict a white NYPD officer in the chokehold death of Eric Garner on Wednesday, claiming that the 43-year-old African-American victim's death was due to his own poor health, Yahoo News reported.
Just hours after NYC erupted in protests on Wednesday because 29-year-old Officer Daniel Pantaleo was not indicted for grabbing unarmed Garner and fatally holding him in a banned chokehold maneuver during an arrest, Rep. Peter King's inflammatory remarks sparked further outrage.
Garner's asthma, heart condition and obesity were the reasons he died on Staten Island on July 17, the New York representative told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
"You had a 350-pound person who was resisting arrest," King said. "The police were trying to bring him down as quickly as possible. If he had not had asthma and a heart condition and was so obese, almost definitely he would not have died from this."
"People were saying that he said seven times, 'I can't breathe.' But the fact is, if you can't breathe, you can't talk," King continued. "If you've ever seen anyone resisting arrest, I've seen it, and it's been white guys, and they're always saying, 'You're breaking my arm, you're choking me, you're doing this.' Police hear this all the time."
On July 17, police, at the request of local "minority business owners," responded to a scene where Garner was known for selling cigarettes, UK MailOnline reported. Once Garner started resisting arrest, officers "had no choice but to try and bring him down," said King, former chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.
Despite the fact that the father of six can be heard repeatedly saying he can't breathe on the videotaped attack, the cops had "no reason" to know that Garner was in danger, King claimed, adding that the attack was not racially motivated and a 350-pound white guy "would have been treated the same."
In August, Garner's death was ruled as a homicide because of the compression to his neck and chest and the way he was held on the ground. But the medical examiner also said that Garner's health problems contributed to his death.
King's comments heightened the depth of public anger over the grand jury decision, according to UK MailOnline.
"If you only had a brain Peter King. You are a disgrace to your public office," @pridgen responded.
"@RepPeteKing Seriously? Not even a Misdemeanor Charge of Strangulation? What a travesty," @sharonM tweeted.
Meanwhile, the grand jury decision on Garner's death came nine days after the Ferguson grand jury declined to indict Officer Darren Wilson over the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown.
Last week, King also encouraged President Barack Obama to invite Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson to the White House.
"I think it would be very helpful if President Obama went and met with the police officer, or at least invited him to the White House," King said on the Fox Business Network. "And say, 'You've gone through four months of smear and slander, and the least we can do is tell you that it is unfortunate that it happened and thank you for doing your job.'"
