Garner case.

Prosecutors say no charges for police officer in New York chokehold death.

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 civil rights investigation without charges was made by Attorney General William Barr and was announced the day before the fifth anniversary of the deadly Staten Island encounter, just as the statute of limitations was set to expire.

Civil rights prosecutors in Washington had favored filing criminal charges against Officer Daniel Pantaleo, but Barr ultimately sided with other federal prosecutors based in Brooklyn who said evidence, including a bystander’s cellphone video, wasn’t sufficient to make a case, a Justice Department official told The Associated Press.

Garner’s family was incensed by the decision. “This should have been taken care of years ago,” said Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr. “This should have been taken care of under the Obama administration. Then we would have had a fairer playing ground.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton renewed his calls for the New York Police Department to fire Pantaleo, 34, who has been on desk duty since Garner’s death and is awaiting the results of a disciplinary hearing that could lead to his firing. Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office said it expects a decision by Aug. 31.

Garner’s death — after he refused to be handcuffed for allegedly selling loose, untaxed cigarettes — came at a time of a growing public outcry over police killings of unarmed black men that gave impetus to the national Black Lives Matter movement. Just weeks later, protests erupted in Ferguson, Mo., over the fatal shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown.