CNN reports that the officer responsible for the death of Eric Garner back in 2014 has finally been fired.
BREAKING: NYPD fires Daniel Pantaleo, the officer accused of fatally choking Eric Garner in 2014 https://t.co/zuNtEWeZDv
— CNN (@CNN) August 19, 2019
New York City Police Commissioner James O’Neill announced on Monday that NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo has been fired. O’Neill terminated the 34-year-old after courts determined he violated department policy by restraining Garner with a prohibited chokehold in 2014.
"Trials Commissioner Maldonado ruled that officer Pantaleo’s use of a prohibited chokehold was reckless and constituted a gross deviation from the standard of conduct established for a New York City police officer," NYPD chief James O'Neill said. https://t.co/t55EMOkyhR pic.twitter.com/c2ErSiG9IT
— CNN (@CNN) August 19, 2019
Garner yelled 11 times, “I can’t breathe” during the chokehold while officers pressed him into the sidewalk. It wasn’t until after the officers heard Garner’s pleas that they called for an ambulance. Paramedics waited several minutes before giving Garner oxygen.
He was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at a local hospital, dying of what the city’s medical examiner called a “lethal cascade of events” starting with Pantaleo’s chokehold and ending in a cardiac arrest. The death was ruled a homicide.
Garner’s final words, “I can’t breathe” became the rally cry against police brutality across America. The Garner family have also been publicly devoted to holding the police accountable for Eric’s death.
His mother has tirelessly called for the termination of all the officers involved and criticized what she called a subsequent attempt to cover up systematic misconduct.
Garner’s 27-year-old daughter, Erica, participated in several “die-ins” to protest officer-related shootings and became one of the main figures asking for criminal-justice reform. Erica died of a heart attack in 2017.
The family received $5.9 million from the city to settle a wrongful death claim in 2015.
The commissioner also revealed that Pantaleo will not receive his New York Police Department pension and that whatever contributions Pantaleo has already made towards his pension will be returned to him.
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