The justice department will not bring civil rights charges against NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner. The announcement comes one day before the five-year-anniversary of Garner’s death.
The decision against civil rights charges was also announced one day before the statute of limitations was set to expire, according to PBS. Garner’s mother said she was “heartbroken over the decision.”
The AP says that prosecutors watched video of the incident “countless times” but couldn’t that Pantaleo acted willfully against the law which includes NYPD’s policy on chokeholds.
Garner’s repeated plea of “I can’t breathe” before he fell unconscious become a rallying cry for civil and social rights activists, leading to more national discussions on police reform.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/16/nyregion/eric-garner-daniel-pantaleo.html
