Gentle readers, repeat after me: “Eric Garner was not choked to death. Eric Garner was not choked to death. Eric Garner was not choked to death.” You may now count yourselves among that small but distinguished minority of Americans who know this to be true.
As I’ve followed the aftermath of Mr. Garner’s death, I’ve been struck by the ignorance displayed by so many ordinarily sensible people offering commentary on the matter. I use the term “ignorance” not as an insult but rather in the benign sense that they are simply uninformed on the facts of the case. Charles Krauthammer, for example, called the Staten Island grand jury’s decision not to indict the NYPD officer implicated in Garner’s death as “ totally inexplicable .” George Will took things a qualified adjective further when he labeled the decision as “ inexplicable and probably inexcusable .” And Berkeley law professor and former U.S. deputy attorney general John Yoo, discussing the incident on a recent Ricochet podcast (relevant portion at about 57:00), revealed himself as no more informed on the issue than the two columnists. “Looking at the video of what happened,” said Mr. Yoo, “I don’t see any reason why force was required there. With the guy selling loose cigarettes, I don’t see the need to use deadly force to restrain him.”
