Lawmaker under fire for linking death to taxes

SALEM, Ore. — Two dozen Democratic members of the Oregon House sharply criticized a senator from their own party Friday for referring to the death of Eric Garner, a black man killed in New York by police, in a statement opposing cigarette taxes and using Garner’s last words: “I can’t breathe.”

Garner was killed in 2014 after officers stopped him for selling single, unpackaged cigarettes, thereby ducking a sales tax.

Rep. Diego Hernandez took to Facebook, saying he believes the news release from Sen. Dennis Linthicum is racist and unacceptable.

“Yesterday, on the day the Oregon Governor signed the 2019 Black History Month Proclamation, State Senator Dennis Linthicum released a press release that blamed the death of Eric Garner ... on high tobacco taxes. In order to oppose a proposed cigarette tax,” said Hernandez, a Democrat from Portland.

The Oregon Health Authority is seeking a $2 increase in the cigarette tax, from $1.33 to $3.33 a pack.

Linthicum, who is from Klamath Falls and whose district covers a huge swath of rural southern and central Oregon, said in an interview that he intended no racism and was only trying to draw attention to disproportionate and abusive power of local governments.

The furor over the news release came as the Legislature is under scrutiny after the state labor commission denounced persistent sexual harassment in the Capitol.

“At a time when the Capitol is working hard to improve its culture and build a better, safer environment for everyone who comes through its doors, actions like this demonstrate how much more work we have to do,” the 24 House Democrats told Linthicum in the letter.

The statement at the center of the controversy, issued Thursday by Linthicum’s spokesman, said a tobacco tax was the root cause of why Garner was tackled and put into a chokehold by police. It goes on to say Garner “was heard gasping ‘I can’t breathe.’ ”

“Eric Garner’s death shows us exactly how disproportionate and abusive state power has become,” Linthicum was quoted in the news release, which did not mention Garner was black.

Asked in his office Friday in the Oregon State Capitol if he had been referring to police brutality or to the imposition of a cigarette tax, Linthicum said “Both, absolutely both.”

“I’m making the claim that taxing cigarettes leads to the consequences of black markets, and black markets often cause violence,” Linthicum said.

Minutes later, a letter landed on his desk from 24 House Democrats demanding an immediate apology and an explanation.

“The subject line of your email manipulates Eric Garner’s dying words, “I CAN’T BREATHE” to serve as inflammatory click-bait for a press release about tax policy,” the lawmakers said, adding that they found it disturbing and abhorrent.

After the letter arrived, Linthicum said he would analyze the situation.

“I will think with rigor and precision, because I didn’t think my original press release would be so misconstrued,” he said.