While many lawmakers have been denouncing the Staten Island grand jury decision not to indict white police officer Daniel Pantaleo in the July chokehold death of an unarmed black man, Eric Garner, Rep. Peter King, R-New York, has been taking a different approach. On Wednesday, King tweeted his gratitude to the jury for "doing justice" in their handling of the case. "Thanks to SI grand jury for doing justice & not yielding to outside pressure," King tweeted. "Decision must be respected. Compassion for the Garner family. " Later, he told Wolf Blitzer on CNN's "The Situation Room" that he feels "strongly" the police officer should not have been indicted, arguing that there is no way he could have known that Garner's health conditions would affect his ability to survive the chokehold.
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New York Rep. Peter King, a Republican, praised the State Island grand jury's decision on Wednesday
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King says there's no way the officer who placed Eric Garner in a chokehold could have known it would kill him
The @placeholder congressman also suggested that the officers had no reason to stop suppressing Garner, even though he stressed multiple times that he could not breathe.