Emerald Garner, Eric Garner’s daughter, criticized the way footage of Tyree Nichols’ arrest was released on Friday, saying it was being treated like a “movie premiere.”
“The fact that we’ve been waiting for this video to come out like it was an exclusive movie that was supposed to premiere on a certain day, it really makes my blood boil,” Garner told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo.
Memphis authorities released footage of the Jan. 10 traffic stop that led to Nichols’ death Friday night. A graphic video shows a 29-year-old black man being pepper-sprayed, tased and beaten by several police officers, five of whom have been fired and charged with second-degree murder.
“Tonight was a live demonstration of how they do it,” he said, adding, “You treated it like it was the premiere of a move for the world to see, a public lynching.”
Garner’s father was killed in a shootout with NYPD in 2014. Footage of the incident, in which Eric Garner repeatedly repeats the now-famous chorus of “I Can’t Breathe,” sparked nationwide protests.
Emerald Garner said Friday that the swift justice seen in Nichols’ case, because several officers have already been charged, is a stark contrast to her father’s. Daniel Pantaleo, the former New York Police Department officer who held his father in an illegal chokehold, was not criminally charged and fired from the department until 2019, nearly five years after the incident.
“For me it’s always been, it’s a slap in the face. There was no justice,” Garner said of his father’s death. “In this case of Lord Nicholls, justice was done swiftly.”
“If we had this in 2014, would Tire Nichols be around today?” he added. “I don’t think so.”
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