No federal charges for NYPD officer

‘Today, we can’t breathe,’ mother of dead man says

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department will not bring federal charges against a New York City police officer over 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 Donoghue, marks the end of a civil rights investigation into an episode – much of it captured on video – that helped turn a national spotlight on how police officers use force.

“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 the Justice Department. Attorneys in the department’s Civil Rights Division 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 Justice would not bring a federal civil rights prosecution 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, 43, a 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 as Pantaleo held 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 staged demonstrations across the county against what they call excessive force by police.

“We’re here with heavy hearts because the DOJ has failed us, although we looked for better from them,” Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, said Tuesday. “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 denied that Pantaleo used a chokehold maneuver banned by the NYPD.

The city paid a $5.9 million civil settlement to Garner’s family. Pantaleo has been assigned to administrative duty since Garner’s death.

In 2017, the city’s Civilian Complaints Review Board determined Pantaleo used excessive force. Pantaleo awaits a verdict in an NYPD disciplinary proceeding.

Wednesday is the five-year anniversary of Garner’s death.

Carr vowed the Justice decision would not go unchallenged and the family would seek Pantaleo’s removal from the police force.

“The job of a federal prosecutor ... is not to let our emotions dictate our decisions. Our job is to review the evidence.”

U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue