As the race for the Democratic presidential nominee continues to heat up, Sen.Bernie Sanders just received a huge endorsement from Erica Garner, daughter of Eric Garner, the Staten Island man that was place in an illegal NYPD chokehold July 17, 2014 and killed for selling loose cigarettes.
In the ad, Erica is getting her 6-year-old daughter Alyssa ready for school when she’s asked about Civil Rights icons and the Civil Rights Movement.
“Recently she just learned about Rosa Parks and Matin Luther King,” Erica recalled. She asked me if Rosa Parks did not give up her seat for a white man, and I said yes, and then she said ‘But those are in the old days, right mommy?’ and I had to explain to her that it’s not really over.”
Wearing a black “I Can’t Breathe” hoodie, Erica also speaks on the impact of her father’s murder.
“They don’t know what they took from us. He wasn’t just someone that no one cared for him or no one loved him. He was loved dearly. Alyssa misses my dad.”
For nearly one year, Alyssa protested, and marched every Tuesday and Thursday to keep the memory of her father alive and said she thinks the only leader who can help tackle issues of police brutality against African-Americans is the Vermont senator.
“I think we need to believe in a leader like Bernie Sanders. There’s no other person speaking about this. People are dying. This is the real world. This is not TV. We need a president that’s going to talk about it,” Erica said. “I believe Bernie Sanders is a protester. He’s not scared to go up against the criminal justice system. He’s not scared.
Powerful video of Erica Garner endorsing Bernie SandersThe absolute most powerful, emotional, convincing endorsement of Bernie Sanders I’ve ever seen.This is Erica Garner – daughter of Eric Garner.
Posted by Shaun King on Thursday, February 11, 2016