Jon Stewart Somberly Addressed The 'Utterly Depressing' Eric Garner Verdict: Watch
Last night after the grand jury's decision not to indict an NYPD officer who used a deadly chokehold on Staten Island resident Eric Garner, Jon Stewart paused his normal mode of humor on "The Daily Show" to address the verdict.
He called the non-indictment "utterly depressing," and discussed how the show's previous episodes sought catharsis by trying to make light of the situation in Ferguson by poking fun at the dispute between the St. Louis Rams and the St. Louis Police Department over the football player's use of the "hands up don't shoot" gesture that became ubiquitous following the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson.
Similarly to the decision made yesterday in New York, the officer involved in Brown's death was not indicted.
But Stewart couldn't get past the proximity of the two verdicts, comparing the similarity of the situations by emphasizing that while there was some conflicting testimony in the Ferguson case—in Garner's case everything was caught on video.
"I think what's so depressing is that none of the ambiguities that exist in the Ferguson case exist in the Staten Island case." he said. "And yet the outcome is exactly the same. No crime, no trial, all harm—no foul."
"I... I don't know. I honestly don't know what to say," Stewart said. "If comedy is tragedy plus time, I need more f---ing time. But I would really settle for less f---ing tragedy."
Watch his full reaction below:
