Commemorating the 10th anniversary of the police killing of Eric Garner

NEW YORK – Wednesday marks the 10th anniversary the death of Eric Garner.

Garner died at the hands of an NYPD officer after being taken to the ground in a now-illegal chokehold. His death cry, “I can’t breathe,” became the slogan of the Black Lives Matter movement. as protests flooded the city.

Garner was 43 when he died during an arrest in 2014 for allegedly selling loose cigarettes. The incident was captured on cellphone video and Garner was heard telling officers “I can’t breathe” 11 times. His death was ruled a homicide.

Authorities determined that NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo used a prohibited chokehold, but he was never charged. He was finally released in 2019five years after the fatal encounter.

A march to remember Garner was planned on Staten Island on Wednesday. The morning march will go from the Staten Island Ferry Terminal to Eric Garner Way in Tompkinsville. A memorial service will be held in Tompkinsville Park from noon to 7 p.m.

Eric Garner’s mother Gwenn Carr speaks out

Maurice DuBois of CBS New York spoke with Garner’s mother Gwenn Carrwho reflected on what the Black Lives Matter protests meant to her.

“I was excited about the protests,” she said. “They made me feel like people cared.”

“If you’re wondering why this happened, what’s happening?” DuBois asked.

“He was a black man in America. And they targeted him. Because why would you kill for a loose cigarette,” Carr said.

Carr says she is still seeking justice for her son. She says there were other police officers involved in her son’s death that day and she believes they should be fired as well.

“Even a decade after Eric Garner’s tragic and unnecessary killing, his final words, ‘I can’t breathe,’ continue to remind us of the importance of working to end police brutality and systemic racism. Eric was a beloved father and his life mattered. In a truly just society, he would still be with us today,” said Rev. Al Sharpton. “We remember Eric Garner not only for the injustice he suffered, but for the activism and change his death inspired. And we celebrate the extraordinary perseverance of his family as they continue to help pave the way for a more just and equal society.”

Tonight at 11pm you can continue to hear Maurice’s conversation with Carr. They’ll talk about what the last decade has been like without her son, the changes in policing that his death has brought about, and her life as an unlikely activist.