BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Death of Eric Garner
| Time | 3:45 p.m. (EST) |
|---|---|
| Date | July 17, 2014 |
| Location | 202 Bay Street, Tompkinsville,Staten Island |
| Cause | Neck compression due to achokehold |
| First reporter | Daily News (New York) |
| Filmed by | Ramsey Orta[1] |
| Participants | Daniel Pantaleo and Justin Damico (NYPD officers) |
| Deaths | 1 |
| Litigation | $75 million lawsuit filed by Garner's family against New York City, NYPD, and six NYPD officers[2] |
Eric Garner (September 15, 1970 – July 17, 2014) was an African American man who died in Staten Island, New York after a police officer put him in a chokehold, a tactic banned by the New York City Police Department.[3][4] He was initially approached by police officer Justin Damico.[5][6] After Garner expressed to the police that he was tired of being harassed and that he was not selling cigarettes, officers made the move to arrest Garner who resisted. Officer Daniel Pantaleo, also on scene, put his arms around the much taller Garner's neck, applying a headlock or chokehold shown in a widely viewed video recording of the event.[1] Garner died some minutes later.
After the incident, city medical examiners concluded that Garner was killed by neck compression from the chokehold, along with “the compression of his chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police”. Contributing factors included bronchial asthma, heart disease, obesity, and hypertensive cardiovascular disease.[7][8] Garner had health issues, including diabetes, sleep apnea and severe asthma.[9] As a result of Garner's death, four EMTs and paramedics who responded to the scene were suspended without pay on July 21, 2014; officers Damico and Pantaleo were placed on desk duty; and Daniel Pantaleo was stripped of his service gun and badge. On December 3, 2014, a grand jury decided not to indict officer Pantaleo.
The event stirred public protests[10] and rallies[11] with charges of police brutality and was broadcast nationally over various media networks.[12][13]
Background
Eric Garner
Eric Garner had been employed as a horticulturist at the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.[14] Garner was a 350-pound (160 kg), 43-year-old, 6'3" (1.91 m) tall, African American man.[3][4] He has been described by his friends as a "neighborhood peacemaker" and as a generous, congenial person.[9] He had six children.[6] Garner had been previously arrested and was out on bail for selling untaxed cigarettes, driving without a license, marijuana possession and false personation. Garner had a criminal record that includes more than 30 arrests dating back to 1980 on charges such as assault, resisting arrest, grand larceny. An official said the charges include multiple incidents in which he was arrested for selling unlicensed cigarettes.[15][16][17]
Daniel Pantaleo
Daniel Pantaleo is a New York City Police Department officer who at the time of Garner's death was 29 years old, and living in Eltingville, Staten Island.[18] Pantaleo was the subject of two civil rights lawsuits in 2013 where plaintiffs accused Pantaleo of falsely arresting them and abusing them.[19] In one of the cases, Pantaleo and other officers ordered two black men to strip naked on the street for a search and the charges against the men were dismissed.[20]
Death
On July 17, 2014, at 4:45 p.m., Eric Garner was approached by a plainclothes police officer, Justin Damico, in front of a beauty supply store at 202 Bay Street in the Tompkinsville neighborhood in Staten Island. After telling the police officers, "Get away [garbled] for what? Every time you see me, you want to mess with me. I'm tired of it. It stops today. Why would you...? Everyone standing here will tell you I didn't do nothing. I did not sell nothing. Because everytime you see me, you want to harass me. You want to stop me [garbled] Selling cigarettes. I'm minding my business, officer, I'm minding my business. Please just leave me alone. I told you the last time, please just leave me alone."[21] Garner swatted their arms away, saying, "Don't touch me, please." He was then put in a chokehold or headlock from behind by officer Daniel Pantaleo, in order to be subdued. While Garner stated he was not able to breathe nine times, other officers struggled to bring him down onto the sidewalk and have him put his arms behind his back. The video shows officer Pantaleo using his hands to push Garner's head down into the sidewalk. An ambulance was immediately called to the scene and Mr. Garner was transported by EMS to Richmond University Medical Center. He went into cardiac arrest while he was in the vehicle. He was pronounced dead approximately one hour later at the hospital. [22]
The video also showed that police waited seven minutes before giving Garner cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).[11][23] Use of the chokehold is legal, but has been prohibited by New York City Police Department policy since 1993.[24]
Garner's death was recorded by Ramsey Orta, a friend of Garner's, who was subsequently indicted on charges of third degree criminal possession of a weapon.[1][25]
The final autopsy report in Garner's death showed that Garner did not have any drugs or alcohol in his system and had no head trauma.[26]
Aftermath
Three weeks after recording his friend's arrest on his cell phone, Ramsey Orta was arrested on weapons charges.[1] Al Sharpton made a statement that prosecuting Orta while also calling him as a witness could constitute a conflict of interest.[1]
Investigation and grand jury
On July 20, 2014, the officer who grabbed Garner by the neck, Daniel Pantaleo,[13] was put on desk duty and stripped of his service handgun and badge.[27] Officer Justin Damico was allowed to keep his badge and handgun but was placed on desk duty.[28] Four of the EMTs and paramedics who responded to Garner's respiratory distress were suspended without pay on July 21,[13] while the hospital where they worked, Richmond University Medical Center, conducted its own investigation into the incident.[29] The two paramedics have since been returned to their regular duties.
Garner's death was found by the New York City Medical Examiner's Office to be a result of compression to the neck, compression to the body, and prone positioning, along withasthma, heart disease and obesity as contributing factors.[30] On August 1, the medical examiner's spokesperson, Julie Bolcer, announced that Garner's death has been ruled ahomicide.[31] As of December 3, 2014 the United States Department of Justice launched further investigation towards the chokehold death.[32]
A grand jury was convened to hear evidence prior to deliberating whether to file charges against Officer Pantaleo. As of December 3, 2014 the Staten Island grand jury decided to not indict police officer Daniel Pantaleo.[33][34]
Reaction
Public
Al Sharpton organized a peaceful protest in Staten Island on the afternoon of July 19, and condemned the police's use of the chokehold on Garner, saying that "there is no justification" for it.[35]
On July 29, 2014, a protest was held in Times Square, organized by WalkRunFly Productions and poet Daniel J. Watts. The protest was in the form of poetry and many Broadway entertainers participated in the event.[36] Al Sharpton originally planned to lead a protest on August 23, in which participants will drive over the Verrazano–Narrows Bridge, then travel to the site of the altercation and the office of District Attorney Daniel M. Donovan, Jr.[37] This idea was scrapped in favor of Sharpton leading a peaceful march along Bay Street in Staten Island, where Garner died; police estimated that over 2,500 people participated in the march.[38][39]
After a Staten Island jury decided not to indict Pantaleo, people in New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area gathered in protest, demonstrating with several die-ins.[40]
Politicians
- Bill de Blasio, New York City's mayor, called Garner's death a "terrible tragedy."[41]
- U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said that the Department of Justice was "closely monitoring" investigations into Garner's death.[42]
Bill de Blasio, at a July 31 roundtable meeting in response to the death, convened with police officers and political activists, called upon mutual respect and understanding. On August 1, in his statement, the mayor urged all parties involved to create a dialogue, and find a path "to heal the wounds from decades of mistrust and create a culture where the police department and the communities they protect respect each other".[43][44]
Police
As a result of Eric Garner's death, Police Commissioner William Bratton ordered an extensive review of the NYPD's training procedures, specifically focusing on the appropriate amount of force that can be used while detaining a suspect.[45]
NYPD Union leader Patrick Lynch challenged the claim that a chokehold was used.[46]
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