You’d think a former attorney for the Obama White House now serving as deputy counsel to the mayor of New York would know enough to wait until results are in to make any judgment about a sensitive death at the hands of police.
Especially when his boss is promising a “full and thorough investigation.”
But Ian Bassin must’ve missed that class in law school. Less than two days after Eric Garner died during an arrest, Bassin tweeted out the following: “RIP Eric Garner. You deserved so much more from our City. We will and we must do better.”
In a video of the incident, it appears one of the cops used an illegal chokehold to subdue Garner, though even that’s not yet clear.
Even so, the officer in question and several emergency responders have been suspended, and Commissioner Bill Bratton has promised retraining for the entire police force.
But Bassin’s tweet raises a troubling new question about how the administration is itself responding.
In his campaign for mayor, Bill de Blasio asserted that New Yorkers don’t trust the cops.
But what about the folks in the mayor’s office? Can cops — and the public — trust them? Or is this going to be one of those times where we hurry the investigation so we can get right to the hanging?
The police have a responsibility to the people. And in this space yesterday, we made clear that if the cops arresting Garner are found to have behaved wrongly, we’ll support strong disciplinary action. But the city has a responsibility too.
And when a deputy counsel to the mayor sends the message he’s already pre-judged the case, he’s as divisive as any errant cop.