While "I Can't Breathe" has become a powerful message for protesters and celebrities alike after the grand jury decided not to indict the cop who choked Eric Garner to death during an arrest, one misguided cop is going in the opposite direction with the phrase. Jason Barthel, a police corporal in Indiana and owner of a company called South Bend Uniform, is selling T-shirts that read: "Breathe Easy—Don't Break the Law."
Barthel told Rawstory that he created the T-shirts in response to "I Can't Breathe" because he saw that message as "confrontational." "This is intended to be a uniting and positive thing, not to divide," he said.
Still, many people have been justifiably upset with the tees. But in a statement on his company's Facebook page, Barthel insists that the shirts were not meant to be inflammatory. "For those upset, please understand when we use the slogan 'Breathe Easy' we are referring to knowing the police are there for you! We are one people, one nation regardless of race, religion, creed or gender. We are all in this together." He went on to say, "We are all one people and this is by no means is a slam on Eric Garner or his family."
Whatever his intentions are, this is why second opinion exists.
[via Gawker]
