An Indiana police officer and businessman who started selling shirts saying “Breathe Easy: Don’t Break The Law” after the death of Eric Garner has reportedly seen massive sales of his merchandise.
Jason Barthel, owner of South Bend Uniform, began printing the shirts in December, playing on the last words of the unarmed black New Yorker who died after being placed in a chokehold by a white police officer: “I can’t breathe.”
“We have sold about 45,000 of the black T-shirts, and we’ve sold probably close to 3,000 hooded sweatshirts and miscellaneous other items with the Breathe Easy emblem on them in the last month,” the manager of Barthel’s printing company told the Daily Beast. “Not even a month.”
South Bend Uniform has also produced “Breathe Easy” long-sleeve shirts, hoodies, hats, wristbands, and license plates, according to the Beast.
“We’ve covered every state in the U.S., all the Canadian provinces, Italy, Ireland, England, Australia, the United Kingdom, Kuwait, Philippines, Mexico,” he added. “It’s a lot.”
The Beast reported that Barthel has seen some backlash for the products, like vandalism and some finger wagging by members of the Mishawaka city council.
But otherwise, business is good: demand for the shirts apparently shot the price up from $7.95 to $9.95.
Despite outcry locally and online, Barthel has defended his spin on the words of a dying man.
“We are not here to do anything negative to the public,” the entrepreneur told television station WSBT in December. “We’re here to protect the public and we want you to breathe easy knowing that the police are here to be with you and for you and protect you.”
