US won’t charge cop in Garner’s death
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.
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.
“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.