"You judge a man by those who come to his funeral".
In the case of Eric Garner, he wouldn't be a person for history to remember for his accomplishments, but his "funeral" has been bigger than most, and still taking place across the land. But, what really matters in his case is that he seemed to be a "good person", someone who gave to others from the little he had. His mother speaking on CNN mentioned that a homeless man came up to them, asked if they were his family and said that Garner fed him every time he saw him. "He bought me a sandwich every time he saw me".
Finally, one last detail: he had no cigarettes on him nor in his car when the cops assaulted him. The cops had to see him selling cigarettes in order to have probable cause to arrest him, and they had none, saw nothing. Selling loose cigarettes is a misdemeanor.