– ‘An American problem’ –
The July death of Garner is one of a string of high-profile, racially charged incidents in which white police officers have been accused of using unreasonable force or being too quick to fire at black suspects.
Garner’s widow, Esaw Garner, said she rejected Pantaleo’s apology.
“Hell, no,” Garner said, according to the New York Times. “The time for remorse for the death of my husband was when he was yelling to breathe.”
“He’s still feeding his kids,” Garner said, “and my husband is six feet under and I’m looking for a way to feed my kids now.”
In brief comments following the grand jury decision, Barack Obama – the first black president of the US – addressed the inherent mistrust many African Americans have of police. READ: Obama to move on police body cameras after Ferguson unrest.
“We’re seeing too many instances where people do not have confidence that folks are being treated fairly,” Obama said.
“In some cases, those may be misperceptions, but in some cases that’s a reality, and it is incumbent upon all of us as Americans… that we recognize this is an American problem and not just a black problem or a brown problem.”
The August shooting death of 18-year-old Brown by a white policeman in Ferguson sparked consecutive nights of violence and became a rallying cry for African-American communities across the United States fed up with what they say is racially biased policing.
A grand jury in that case also decided not to charge the white officer involved, triggering demonstrations in cities across America last week and into the weekend.
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