Sen. Rand Paul said the officer involved in the choking death of 43-year-old Eric Garner “should not be given the power to be able to use that kind of force.”
“Legal standards are difficult standards, sometimes, to prosecute people, but there’s another standard for employment, and I think one announcement that would be good, and it’s sad in this officer’s case, but at the same time, he used bad discretion - he didn’t use discretion, and he made a very unwise decision - he should not be given the power to be able to use that kind of force,” Mr. Paul, Kentucky Republican, said Thursday on Fox News’ “Hannity.”
“So I don’t think you can have an officer that makes this bad of a decision work as a policeman, and I know that sounds sad, but Eric Garner died, and he didn’t need to die,” he said.
A grand jury this week decided not to indict New York City police officer Daniel Pantaleo for the incident over the summer in which an unarmed Garner, who is black, was stopped on suspicion of illegally selling cigarettes and put in a chokehold.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has ordered a retraining of city police officers in the wake of the incident, and the decision has sparked nationwide protests, particularly since it closely follows a grand jury’s decision out of Missouri not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown, who is black, over the summer.
“I don’t think it has to be the intent, and that’s why when you talk about conviction or indictment versus continued employment, there’s a much different standard - the standard for being a police officer is a lot different,” Mr. Paul said.
“You have to have discretion - so, for example, if you see an 85-year-old jaywalking, it’s against the law, do you put her in a chokehold?” he said.
Mr. Paul also repeated that public policy on taxes and targeting such sellers of individual cigarettes played a part.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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