close
close

“I can’t breathe”: Eric Garner remembered on the 10th anniversary of his death by chokehold

“I can’t breathe”: Eric Garner remembered on the 10th anniversary of his death by chokehold

NEW YORK (AP) — Wednesday marks the tenth anniversary of the Death of Eric Garner “I can’t breathe” caused by the hands of New York police officers a battle cry.

A video taken by bystanders showed Garner gasping the phrase as he was put in a chokehold by police. This sparked Black Lives Matter protests in New York and across the country. More demonstrations followed weeks later when Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black man, shot by a policeman in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9, 2014.

Six years later, George Floyd was recorded uttering the exact same words and begging for air while a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck, sparking a new wave of mass protests.

Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, planned to lead a march in honor of her son on Wednesday morning on Staten Island, the borough where Garner died after being restrained by police officer Daniel Pantaleo. Carr said TV station NY1 that she is still trying to keep her son’s name relevant and fight for justice.

Garner died on July 17, 2014, after a confrontation with Pantaleo and other officers who suspected him of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes on the street.

The video showed Pantaleo, who is white, putting his arm around Garner, who is black, as they struggled and fell to the sidewalk. “I can’t breathe,” Garner gasped repeatedly before losing consciousness. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

New York authorities concluded that Pantaleo had used a chokehold, which was banned by the New York City Police Department in the 1990s, and the city’s medical examiner’s office ruled Garner’s death a homicide. But neither state nor federal prosecutors filed charges against Pantaleo or any of the other officers present.

“Even if we could prove that Officer Pantaleo’s restraint of Mr. Garner constituted unreasonable force, we would still have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Pantaleo intentionally violated the law,” said Richard Donoghue, then U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn, in Announcement in 2019 that no federal civil rights lawsuits would be filed.

Pantaleo was fired in 2019 following police disciplinary proceedings.

Garner’s family settled with the City of New York for $5.9 million, but continued to seek justice in the form of a Inquest into Garner’s death in 2021.

The trial, held virtually because of the pandemic, was held under a provision of the city charter that allows citizens to petition the court for a public inquiry “into any alleged breach or neglect of duty relating to the property, government or affairs of the city.” The purpose of the inquiry was to prepare a report on the case, not to find anyone guilty or innocent.

One of the lawyers representing Garner’s family was a civil rights attorney Alvin Braggwho was then running for Manhattan District Attorney, a position he won in November of that year.

Bragg, the successful trial against former President Donald Trump for paying hush money to a porn actor this year, Carr and other members of Garner’s family praised Tuesday.

“While I continue to be deeply pained by the loss of Eric Garner, I am in awe of the strength of his family and moved by their commitment to using his legacy as a force for change,” Bragg said. “Their courage continues to inspire me as District Attorney, and I vow to always honor Mr. Garner’s memory by working toward a safer, fairer, and more equitable city.”

Mayor Eric Adams, a former police officer, said during a news conference Tuesday that he remembers Garner’s death “like it was yesterday.”

Adams, who was Brooklyn borough president at the time of Garner’s death, said he prays there will never be another “Eric Garner situation.”