Eric Garner

Police officer in ‘I can’t breathe’ death won’t be charged

Gwen Carr, mother of chokehold victim Eric Garner, left, speaks outside the U.S. Attorney’s office, in the Brooklyn borough of New York, as Garner’s widow Esaw Snipes listens at right, Tuesday, July 16, 2019.
07/16/2019
AP

NEW YORK — After years of silence, federal prosecutors said Tuesday that they won’t bring criminal charges against a white New York City police officer in the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner, a black man whose dying words — “I can’t breathe” — became a national rallying cry against police brutality.

The decision to end a yearslong civil rights investigation without charges was made by Attorney General William Barr and was announced the day before the five-year anniversary of the deadly Staten Island encounter, just as the statute of limitations was set to expire.

Stop telling us we didn’t see what we saw. A cop choked Eric Garner to death. The District Attorney wouldn’t prosecute him. The Justice Department turned its back. Now the mayor must step up and fire him.

07/16/2019
New York Daily News

The next time Mayor de Blasio jets off to Keokuk, Iowa or Orangeburg, South Carolina, or wherever he goes to try to sell people on the crazy notion that he can be President of the United States, there should be a large screen with video of Eric Garner telling voters that he can’t breathe.

'We are fighting for justice': Protesters call for firing of NYPD officers at 'We are Eric Garner' rally

Video still of Gwen Carr addressing crowd at youth-led action on fifth anniversary of her son Eric Garner's killing
07/17/2019
USA Today

NEW YORK – Hundreds of youth organizers carrying coffins and posters marched Wednesday at Foley Park, calling for Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York Police Department to fire all officers involved in the chaotic arrest and death of Eric Garner.

The "We are Eric Garner" rally, held on the five-year anniversary of Garner's death, followed Tuesday’s decision by the Department of Justice to not pursue civil rights charges against NYPD officer David Pantaleo, who put the 43-year-old black man in a chokehold.

Chokeholds and Police Abuse, Kept From the Public

There’s still time for New York legislators to repeal the law that keeps police records secret.
Gwen Carr, Eric Garner’s mother, outside One Police Plaza last week.CreditKarsten Moran for The New York Times
06/12/2019
New York Times

An administrative judge will decide soon whether New York Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo should be fired for using a prohibited chokehold that led to the death of Eric Garner and waves of protestover police brutality five years ago.

Whatever her decision, the public may never know about it.

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