DOJ won’t charge officer in chaotic 2014 death
Garner’s last words became rallying cry for Black Lives Matter
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department will not bring federal charges against a New York City police officer for the death of Eric Garner during a chaotic arrest that ignited nationwide protests five years ago.
The decision, announced Tuesday by Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Richard P. Donoghue, marked the end of a civil rights probe into an episode – much of it captured on video – that helped turn a national spotlight on how police officers use force against minorities.
“Like many of you, I have watched that video many times, and each time I’ve watched it, I’m left with the same reaction: that the death of Eric Garner was a tragedy,” Donoghue said. “The job of a federal prosecutor, however, is not to let our emotions dictate our decisions. Our job is to review the evidence gathered during the investigation, like the video, to assess whether we can prove that a federal crime was committed.”
Authorities spent years investigating Garner’s death in an examination that proved contentious inside and outside of the Justice Department. Attorneys in the department’s Civil Rights Division long advocated for bringing a criminal charge, while prosecutors in Brooklyn recommended against it.
Donoghue said Attorney General William Barr broke the logjam, deciding in recent days that a federal civil rights prosecution would not be brought against Officer Daniel Pantaleo.
“The video and the other evidence gathered in the investigation does not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Pantaleo acted willfully in violation of federal law,” Donoghue said.
Garner, a 43-year-old black man, was accused of selling single cigarettes outside a store on Staten Island when Pantaleo attempted to arrest him. Garner gasped, “I can’t breathe,” after Pantaleo and other officers knocked him to the ground with Pantaleo holding him around the head and neck. The video of the encounter would later become a social media phenomenon.
Garner died soon after. His last words became a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement, whose members have staged demonstrations against alleged excessive force used by police across the country. The campaign gained increased notoriety as professional athletes and Hollywood’s elite took up the cause, some donning Tshirts emblazoned with Garner’s last words.
“We’re here with heavy hearts because the DOJ has failed us,” Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, said Tuesday. “Although we looked for better from them, five years ago my son said ‘I can’t breathe’ 11 times and today we can’t breathe because they have let us down.”
The city medical examiner listed Garner’s cause of death as “compression of neck (choke hold), compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police.” The officer’s lawyer, Stuart London, and the police union deny that Pantaleo used a chokehold maneuver banned by the NYPD.
The city paid a $5.9 million civil settlement to Garner’s family. Pantaleo was assigned to administrative duty since Garner’s death.
In 2017, the city’s Civilian Complaints Review Board determined that Pantaleo used excessive force. Pantaleo also is awaiting a verdict in an NYPD disciplinary proceeding.
Federal authorities have conducted separate, yearslong civil rights inquiry into Garner’s death.
Wednesday is the five-year anniversary of Garner’s death, and the date would have marked the Justice Department’s last opportunity to bring civil rights charges before the statute of limitations expires. An official who was not authorized to speak publicly said prosecutors closed the case without presenting it to a federal grand jury.
Months after the arrest, a Staten Island jury declined to indict Pantaleo, a decision that set off angry demonstrations. Pantaleo has denied wrongdoing.
Donoghue defended the decision, suggesting that the chaotic nature of the struggle involving the officer and Garner resulted in Pantaleo inadvertently grabbing Garner by the neck.
He said Pantaleo tried to employ two approved NYPD tactics to arrest Garner: an armbar, which is used to place handcuffs on a subject, and a “rear takedown” or “seatbelt,” which is used knock suspects off balance and bring them to the ground.
Donoghue said nothing in the video suggested Pantaleo intentionally placed Garner in a chokehold. He cited the size difference between Pantaleo and Garner as a reason the police officer had trouble subduing Garner.
The prosecutor claimed that Garner complained of being unable to breathe after Pantaleo no longer had him by the neck.
Medical experts did not agree on the cause of Garner’s fatal cardiac arrest, Donoghue said. While the medical examiner who conducted the autopsy ruled the death a homicide, other experts said it could have been due to the chokehold or other factors, including Garner’s “serious underlying medical conditions.”