PBA President Patrick Lynch speaks on autopsy review in Eric Garner case

PBA president Patrick J. Lynch said:

“We look forward to our medical experts reviewing all the elements of the autopsy in its entirety.  While we have formally requested the opportunity to do so, we have not been granted that access. We firmly believe that when all the medical data is reviewed in the context of the fight, the medical aid rendered at the scene, in the ambulance and in the hospital, that it will be clear that Mr. Garner’s death was not, as we have said consistently, the result of a chokehold.  Despite the efforts of some to canonize Mr. Garner while demonizing the police officers in this case, the undeniable fact is that Eric Garner was a criminal who served significant jail time for serious felony crimes and who brought crime, disorder and fear to the community.  The police officers, however, are members in good standing of their own communities who have dedicated their lives to the noble cause of protecting others.  Eric Garner made many bad life choices some of which brought him poor health and some of which brought him to that Tompkinsville street corner where he, despite warnings from police, continued to violate the law and where he ultimately chose to resist arrest.   Those bad choices, including the choice to resist arrest, ultimately took his life.”