Garner family to fight woman trying to trademark 'I Can't Breathe'

NEW YORK (WABC) -- "I Can't Breathe" are three simple words that will forever be etched on the hearts and minds of Eric Garner's family.

Eyewitness News reporter A.J. Ross spoke one-on-one with his mother Friday night and she's devastated at the thought of a perfect stranger now trying to profit off her son's final words.

"I can't breathe," Eric Garner said in the now infamous cell phone video recording.

They were the last words Eric Garner managed to utter before a controversial police chokehold ended his life.

The phrase has since become a rallying cry for protesters nationwide demanding changes to police procedures and the justice system.

"Those are our personal words, that are personal with the family," said Gwen Carr, Eric Garner's mother.

But for Eric Garner's mother, the three words symbolize a pain no mother should have to feel.

"It's a sad time being my son is not around won't be around," Carr said.

Now just days before Christmas that agony has resurfaced with a perfect stranger some 800 miles away applying to trademark her son's dying words.

"If we want to coin the phrase, we'll do it because we're his family, we don't want anyone making money, we're not making money off the phrase. We weren't even trying to make money off the phrase," Carr said.

An Illinois woman named Catherine Crump petitioned the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the phrase on Dec. 13.

Crump claims she first used the phrase in August and no other person has the right to use it for trade or sale.

While Garner's family doesn't mind people using the phrase in protest, for profit is where his mother draws the line.

"We don't want anyone coining that phrase because that's our personal, that's a personal thing with us," Carr said.

She hopes Ms. Crump will respect the family's wishes and withdrawal her petition. If not, they're prepared to fight.

"Please withdrawal your papers because we're going to bring a suit if she continues this," Carr said.

Garner's mother said she will be talking with her attorney about this trademark petition on Saturday.