No federal charges for officer in death of Garner

A contentious, yearslong debate in the Justice Department over whether to bring federal civil rights charges against an officer in the death of Eric Garner ended Tuesday after Attorney General William Barr ordered that the case be dropped.

Richard Donoghue, the U. S. attorney in Brooklyn, announced the decision one day before the fifth anniversary of Mr. Garner’s death at the hands of police officers on Staten Island.

The case had sharply divided federal officials and prompted protests over excessive force by the police.

Bystanders filmed the arrest on their cellphones, recording Mr. Garner as he gasped “I can’t breathe.” His death was one of several fatal encounters between black people and the police that catalyzed the national Black Lives Matter movement.

His dying words became a rallying cry for demonstrations that led to changes in policing practices nationwide.

Still, a Staten Island grand jury declined to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who was captured on a video wrapping his arm around Mr. Garner’s neck. The federal civil rights investigation dragged on for five years amid internal disputes in the Justice Department, under former President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump.

In the end, Mr. Barr made the call not to seek a civil rights indictment against Officer Pantaleo, just before a deadline for filing some charges expired.

His intervention settled the disagreement between prosecutors in the civil rights division, which has pushed for an indictment, and Brooklyn prosecutors, who never believed the department could win such a case.

The Garner family and its supporters immediately condemned Mr. Barr’s decision, saying the Justice Department had failed them.

Mr. Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, called on New York to fire Officer Pantaleo, vowing to hold the officers involved accountable.

“We’re not going away, so you can forget that,” Ms. Carr said. “New Yorkers need to come out and flood this city tomorrow.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who was standing with her, added: “Five years ago, Eric Garner was choked to death; today, the federal government choked Lady Justice, and that is why we are outraged.”