It was a crime because he was blocking the sidewalk and “setting up shop” in front of other stores who pay high rent to sell there. The shopowners were the ones who complained. Garner resisted arrest and had a heart attack. It should never have come to that, but it did.
Yes, those who say Eric Garner was murdered by the police for selling cigs are perpetrating dangerous demagoguery. Recall the numerous assassinations of LEOs during Obama’s watch.
James Holmes slaughtered 10 people in a Colorado theater. He was taken alive, unharmed because he surrendered peacefully.
Eric Garner was a repeat offender selling individual cigarettes. He unilaterally decided that the law did not apply to him and was therefore entitled to fight the police. For that, he forfeit his life.
That the latter incident was racialized and used as an excuse to kill cops and beat up elderly veterans who happened to be the wrong skin-color is the real atrocity.