CCRB CHARGE FOR CHOKE COP
BOARD TO PROCEED WITH ACTION IN GARNER CASE
The cop blamed in the death of Eric Garner was charged Friday night with violating NYPD regulations against using a chokehold to subdue a suspect, sources told the Daily News.
The Civilian Complaint Review Board will prosecute the departmental case against Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who has been on desk duty since the July 17, 2014 incident.
The police department's disciplinary case could cost Pantaleo anything from loss of vacation days to firing.
Pantaleo, 33, may yet face criminal charges in Garner's death. The Justice Department still has not decided whether Pantaleo could be charged with violating civil rights law in the case.
In the departmental case, Pantaleo is charged with using a banned chokehold to subdue Garner, a father of six who was selling loosie cigarettes in front of a retail strip on Bay Street in Tottenville, Staten Island.
A widely-viewed cell phone video of the incident showed Garner, surrounded by plainclothes and uniform officers, protesting his arrest.
Pantaleo can be seen throwing a chokehold on Garner. The chokehold cut off Garner's air as he struggled and was brought to the ground.
“I can't breathe,” Garner says nearly a dozen times before going silent. He died later that day.
Garner's widow, Esaw Snipes, still felt raw from her husband's death.
“It will never be justice,” Snipes said Friday night. “The only justice would have been for him to die or to go to jail and die there. Anything short of that is not justice.”
She said she hopes at the least that Pantaleo loses his badge.
“Let's hope they follow through so he loses his job and his pension,” she said.
Pantaleo's pension is secure so long as he is not convicted of criminal charges.
Garner's death was a catalyst for Black Lives Matter movement protests of deadly force by police.
"I think this is a step in the right direction, but I wish all six officers involved in this incident is facing disciplinary charges," civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton said.
Sharpton said he and other Garner supporters would be keeping a close eye on the case.
"We will be monitoring and be present at all the proceedings because this is more than Pantaleo. This is about stop-and-frisk. This is about law enforcement accountability. Just the fact that Pantaleo was charged so late shows that law enforcement is not keeping up with their own policies," Sharpton said.
Mayor de Blasio has said that the NYPD had been waiting for the Justice Department to complete its civil rights investigation into the incident, but after four years, it was time to move forward with the charges.
“I am perplexed by the approach of the Department of Justice,” de Blasio said earlier this week. “There's no reason to wait anymore.”