STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Is it too soon to joke about the Eric Garner verdict?

The answer, for NBC's "Saturday Night Live," is never.

This weekend's episode, with guest host James Franco and musician Nicki Minaj, dedicated much of the show to the Garner verdict — perhaps quieting some of the criticism that NBC has ignored the recent news to focus on the Rockefeller Center tree-lighting ceremony and its live production of Peter Pan (adequately parodied on the show with some primo Christopher Walken impressions).

Jokes centered on the criticism of the grand jury's decision not to indict the officer who placed Garner in a fatal chokehold after police officials said he resisted arrest. They also narrowed in on Staten Island's racial makeup in the context of the grand jury's decision.

In the show's cold open, Kenan Thompson as a plump Al Sharpton interviews Staten Island's Police Brotherhood Assocation Deputy Spokesman Peter Dinello (Bobby Moynihan) about what it takes for video evidence to show police brutality.

With his signature teleprompter flubs, Thompson's Sharpton introduces the PBA union spokesman with a "I've got my hands up already!"

Among the qualifications for video footage, Moynihan reads off: "

Under New York law, if you're going to record a police infraction on video, it must be at least 1080p resolution."

Watch the clip here:

"Weekend Update" made some of the most direct comments on the issue (watch the clip at the top of this article). Co-host Colin Jost, who is from Staten Island and says it in the parody news bit, jokes about the jury's possible racial make-up.

"Staten Island is 80 percent white, 95 percent cops and the other five percent are split between firefighters and the members of the Wu-Tang Clan," Jost says.

The segment concludes with a plea from Jost, saying Staten Island is not ready for a trial of a white cop in the death of a black man:

"We're not ready for these complicated modern issues yet," Jost jokes. "We still arrive to Manhattan every day huddled in a boat."

The comments will either make Jost a hometown hero or the most hated comedian to come off the island.

Watch the clips and chime in below in the comment section.