New York Post claims Eric Garner’s mother asked NYPD for special favors
The mother of a 43-year-old New York man whose death was ruled a homicide after an encounter with police is saying that she never requested “special favors” from police.
Gwen Carr, a Staten Island resident, responded to a New York Post report that Assistant Chief Edward Delatorre arranged to have police fixed a bad headlight and the ticket connected to it for Carr. Carr is the mother of Eric Garner. Garner died in July of an apparent chokehold when police attempted to arrest him for selling loose cigarettes.
According to the Post, Ms. Carr called Delatorre — who is the NYPD’s borough commander for Staten Island — that night shortly after the incident occurred to complain.
“I have never made any special requests of the NYPD and I have never had Assistant Chief Delatorre’s number,” Ms. Carr said in a statement released by Jacky Johnson, a spokeswoman for Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network.
“The only thing I have ever requested of the NYPD was what any mother would ask, which is the arrest for the killing of my son,” Ms. Carr said.
She added, “I have no animosity towards the police. I just want to see justice for my son.”
Read more at Staten Island Advance
Johnson acknowledge that while Carr was stopped for the headlight and the NYPD did change the bulb, Ms. Carr did not ask for any help or support from the police.
“She was fully capable of replacing the bulb herself and had planned to but the police insisted on helping her. She told them that she did not need the help, but they insisted,” Johnson said.
The National Action Network and counsel representing the Garner family called the story a distraction from the real issues surrounding Garner’s death. “This is a blatant attempt to make it seem like people are seeking a favor when they are trying to seek justice and this is clearly not the case,” Kirsten John Foy, northeast regional director for the National Action Network told the Staten Island Advance.
“If it was thought that Ms. Carr had asked the commander to fix her ticket, he would and should have been fired for doing it. That’s how absurd this story is.”
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