Activist spurred to cause by father’s death at police hands

Activist Erica Garner, whose father’s death helped galvanize an emotional national discussion about race and policing, died Saturday.

“She was a warrior to the end. She stood up for justice for her father,” the Rev. Al Sharpton said in announcing the death of Garner, 27, at a New York hospital.

Garner came to prominence after her father, Eric Garner, died in 2014 after being put in a chokehold by a New York City police officer, an event that touched off protests across the country.

Erica Garner had been in a coma since Dec. 23, when she suffered a heart attack, according to local news reports and her verified Twitter account.

Her mother, Esaw Snipes, told The New York Times that Garner had the heart attack after an asthma episode and was placed in a medically induced coma.

A CT scan showed that Garner, who was being treated at a hospital in Brooklyn, suffered “major brain damage from a lack of oxygen while in cardiac arrest,” according to a statement posted Wednesday.

“When you report this you remember she was human: mother, daughter, sister, aunt,” according to a tweet Saturday on her Twitter account. “Her heart was bigger than the world. It really really was. She cared when most people wouldn’t have. She was good. She only pursued right, no matter what. No one gave her justice.”

Eric Garner, who became a key Black Lives Matter figure, died on Staten Island in July 2014, after being put in a chokehold by white police Officer Daniel Pantaleo. Pantaleo had been in the process of arresting Garner on the suspicion that he was selling loose cigarettes. The video of the encounter traveled around the world as Garner’s last words — “I can’t breathe” — became a rallying cry for advocates of policing reform.

A Staten Island grand jury declined to indict Pantaleo in 2014; he remains on modified duty. The city agreed to pay a $6 million civil settlement.

Erica Garner became a voice for police accountability after her father’s death, criticizing New York Mayor Bill de Blasio over policing matters. In 2016, she campaigned on behalf of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent, for president. She also appeared in a campaign advertisement for Sanders, who posted a statement on Twitter last week in response to the news about her health.

“My thoughts are with Erica Garner,” Sanders said. “I have had the privilege of joining with her at a number of events and was deeply impressed with her courage and insights.”

Garner’s mother also told the Times that Garner, who gave birth four months ago to a son she named after her father, had learned during the pregnancy that she had heart problems.

Associated Press and New York Daily News contributed.