Erica Garner, the daughter of Eric Garner, told CNN Thursday she doesn't believe her father died during an arrest because the police officers were racist.
"This is not a black and white issue," she told CNN's Don Lemon. "This is a national crisis."
Garner was talking specifically about how people of all races had joined demonstrations after a Staten Island grand jury declined to indict a white police officer in her father's death in July.
Noting that many people have said Eric Garner's death is part of a trend of white police officers killing unarmed black men, Lemon asked whether she believed race place a role in the incident.
"I really doubt it," she said. "It was about the officer’s pride. It was about my father being 6-4 and 350 pounds and he wants to be the top cop that brings a big man down."