Garner’s son expresses ‘relief,’ but fight goes on
Cop accused of chokehold to appeal firing from NYPD
The family of Eric Garner vowed Tuesday to continue its fight for justice, and the New York City police officer fired for placing Garner in a chokehold said he would appeal the department’s decision.
NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill announced Monday, five years after the incident that led to Garner’s death, that officer Daniel Pantaleo would be dismissed.
Garner died after being subdued by Pantaleo outside a Staten Island convenience store. Garner repeatedly shouted, “I can’t breathe,” which became a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Garner’s son, Eric Jr., told NY1 Tuesday morning he wants to see Pantaleo in jail.
“It had been a long five years, and we’re still gonna fight,” he said. Garner Jr. said it was a “relief” when he heard O’Neill’s decision.
“What Commissioner O’Neill did was what every public official should do in his situation,” Garner family attorney Jonathan Moore said on the news program.
Moore said the family would turn to advocating for a state law to make chokeholds illegal and calling for administrative reviews within the police department for the other officers involved in the case.
“Their role in this should still be examined from a disciplinary standpoint,” he said.
The calls echo those of Garner’s daughter, Emerald Snipes Garner, on Monday. Snipes Garner praised the decision to fire Pantaleo but said more needs to be done to hold other officers accountable in the case and improve policing practices.
“I should not be here standing with my brother, fatherless,” Snipes Garner said. She thanked O’Neill for “doing the right thing” but said Pantaleo should have been fired five years ago. Snipes Garner said she wants congressional hearings and will continue to push to have a criminal case reopened.
Pantaleo was never charged, but Snipes Garner said she believes some officers lied to a state grand jury and provided conflicting accounts about what happened the day her father died.
Garner, 43, was accused of illegally selling single cigarettes outside the convenience store when officers attempted to arrest him in a struggle captured on video.
Garner gasped repeatedly that he could not breathe after Pantaleo and other officers knocked him to the ground. Garner’s death was ruled a homicide, and an autopsy report said the chokehold was in part what caused his death.
O’Neill said Pantaleo was correct when he initially used the chokehold, but when Garner was under control, he should have switched to a “less lethal” alternative. He said that “had I been in officer Pantaleo’s situation, I may have made similar mistakes.”
Pantaleo will not receive a pension as a result of the decision, though he will be repaid what he put into the fund.
Stuart London, the former officer’s lawyer, said Monday that he expects to appeal the decision and go to court for Pantaleo’s job.
Pantaleo had been on desk duty when a departmental trial judge recommended this month that the 13year department veteran be fired.
Pantaleo was never charged, but Garner’s daughter said she believes some officers lied to a state grand jury.