Esaw Snipes-Garner, Eric Garner's widow, said that she doesn't think she'll ever accept an apology from Daniel Pantaleo, the NYPD officer who put her husband in the chokehold, shortly before he died, in a live appearance today, Dec. 4, 2014 on CBS THIS MORNING (7:00-9:00 AM).
"He was somebody that I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with, raise my grandchildren, and he's no longer here and we need justice for this. Somebody needs to pay," Snipes-Garner told
CBS News.
She was joined on
CBS THIS MORNING by Garner's mother, Gwen Carr, and National Action Network President Rev. Al Sharpton.
Asked by Gayle King if she thought she'd ever accept an apology from the officer who put her husband in the chokehold that contributed to his death, Snipes-Garner told CBS, "Honestly, I'll be honest, no. No. Because he's gone."
A partial transcript of the interview as well as the full video follows:
GAYLE KING: Esaw Snipes-Garner is here, along with Eric Garner's mother - her name is Gwen Carr - and the Reverend Al Sharpton, President of the National Action Network is also with us this morning. Thank you so much for coming. I'm so, so sorry it's under these circumstances, but we're glad you're here to share and talk to us today, because so many people share your anger, your frustration, your disappointment, and I want to know what you want them to do and how you're getting through it. Esaw?
ESAW SNIPES-GARNER: It's been really hard since July 17. I'm just trying to, you know, make sure that his death is not in vain. That, you know, it makes a change for my sons as well as sons and brothers and fathers and grandchildren of other people that may be victim like I was a victim. I didn't choose to be a victim. This is something that happened. I didn't expect when my husband left me that morning that I would never see him again. That was the last thing I expected. And to get that phone call, it was just - I didn't know what to think. You know, one minute they were saying he was OK, he was on his way to the hospital, the next minute they were saying he stopped breathing, and I was on the phone, I didn't know what to do, where to go, how to - I didn't know what to do. That was my life, my husband. He was my life. We've been married 27 years, how do you wake up the next day without your life partner? He was somebody that I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with, raise my grandchildren, and he's no longer here and we need justice for this. Somebody needs to pay.
KING: What does justice look like to you, Ms. Carr?
GWEN CARR: Justice is where everyone who was involved in my son's death that day stands accountable, and then I'll feel like I was justified, because that was so inhumane what they did to my son and her husband. I mean, no mother, no grandmother should have to ever go through the pain that we went through. It's just - it's horrible.
NORAH O'DONNELL: Reverend Al, let me ask you, because now that the criminal phase of this is over, the fate of Officer Pantaleo is in the hands of the police department. What do you want Commissioner Bratton to do?
REV. AL SHARPTON: First of all, if he violated police procedures with a chokehold, Commissioner Bratton ought to upload the policy that they established. But I do not agree that the criminal process is over. Attorney General Holder has said that the federal government is going to investigate. They can bring criminal charges. In the past, we fought cases - Abner Louima, National Action Network was out front on that. That policeman is still in jail this morning. The state didn't prosecute him, the federal government did. Rodney King, after the state courts acquitted him, the federal government came in and tried those officers and they were convicted. So Pantaleo's not out of this. And I think the difference here, we've seen Ferguson, we've seen a 12-year-old kid in Cleveland, we've seen this, all in 90 days - the difference is a videotape. I'm very proud to see Americans of all races and ages say wait a minute now, a grand jury isn't supposed to say whether someone is innocent or guilty. A grand jury says is there probable cause to go to trial. That tape says to everybody, let's go to trial and see what happened here. But for a grand jury to look at the tape and say let's not even go to trial, that's kind of hard for a lot of people to swallow.
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