SHE’S FED uP
ERIC GARNER’S mother went directly to the White House seeking an update on the federal investigation into the 2014 death of her son who died in the clutches of a police chokehold.
Gwen Carr told the American Urban Radio Network that she met on Tuesday with former reality TV star Omarosa Manigault, now an aide to President Trump. Carr said Manigault personally phoned the Justice Department on her behalf “to find out what’s happening with the case.”
A federal grand jury has been hearing evidence in the case after a state panel declined to indict NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the Staten Island man’s death.
“She was going to look into my son’s case,” Carr said of Manigault, the reality star who served as Trump’s director of African-American outreach during the campaign. “She had made a couple of phone calls.”
Carr said she was attempting to make contact with someone in the Justice Department so she could ask them “to be fair.”
“I want them to look into my son’s case objectively, and I’m hoping we get a positive outcome,” she told the radio network. “To see that the police officers that day that caused my son’s death stand accountable for their gross misconduct and are punished for it.”
White House press secretary Sean Spicer confirmed Garner met with someone at the White House, but declined further comment.
He suggested that a meeting between anyone from the White House and Carr would be improper.
“For us to get involved in a specific case would be highly inappropriate,” Spicer said at his daily briefing, before referring questions to the Justice Department.
A Justice Department spokesman didn’t respond to questions about any efforts Manigault made on Carr’s behalf.
Carr, 67, didn’t respond to Daily News requests for comment.
Garner, 43, died on July 17, 2014, after he was placed in a banned chokehold. Cops, who had approached him in Tompkinsville for selling loose cigarettes, took Garner to the ground. Pantaleo wrapped his arm around his neck.
“I can’t breathe,” Garner said 11 times before his body went limp on the sidewalk.
The city office ruled medical examiner’s Garner’s death a homicide.
A federal civil rights probe was launched months after Garner’s death, but no formal actions have been taken.
Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch took over the federal probe into Garner’s death from Brooklyn federal prosecutors and the FBI in October, but was unable to complete it before she left office in January.
A federal grand jury is still investigating Pantaleo for Garner’s death, but questions have emerged as to whether President Trump’s recently confirmed attorney general, Jeff Sessions, who is considered more police-friendly than Lynch, will continue the investigation.
Garner’s family, elected officials and community leaders have called for federal indictments against Pantaleo and the other officers involved.
Meanwhile, news emerged Tuesday that Pantaleo had four civilian complaints substantiated against him before the fatal encounter in Staten Island. Records leaked to ThinkProgress.org show he was only docked two vacation days as punishment.
Pantaleo remains on modified duty, working a desk job in Staten Island. THE NYPD has its sights set on the Civilian Complaint Review Board employee who leaked information about the cop who put homicide victim Eric Garner in a chokehold, officials said.
“The leak was totally inappropriate and illegal,” NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Legal Affairs Larry Byrne said Wednesday. “We are working with the CCRB to identify who the leaker was.”
On Tuesday, an anonymous CCRB worker gave documents related to NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo to ThinkProgress. com.
The papers indicated that seven CCRB complaints — including 14 allegations — were made against Pantaleo before his fatal encounter with Staten Island resident Garner.
Four of the complaints were substantiated, but Pantaleo was only docked two vacation days, the documents show.
Police Commissioner James O’Neill echoed Byrne’s sentiment about the divulged documents.
“The leak was inappropriate,” he said.
Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. would not discuss the impending investigation.
“I can’t comment on what we are or are not looking into,” he said. “I am aware of the articles.”
While the CCRB didn’t deny the authenticity of the documents, the Daily News couldn’t independently verify they were legit.
Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch on Tuesday called for a criminal investigation into the leak, saying it was “another demonstration of the CCRB’s inability to function in the fair and impartial manner prescribed by the City Charter.”
Pantaleo confronted Garner on July 17, 2014, on allegations he was selling loose cigarettes outside a Tompkinsville beauty supply store. The 43-year-old father of six — as shown in a viral video first reported by NYDailyNews.com — pleaded for his life after Pantaleo put him in the banned chokehold.
A civil rights investigation has been open for nearly three years.