Aug 20, 2019
Daniel Pantaleo's use of a fatal chokehold on Garner in 2014 sparked a nationwide outcry.
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Daniel Pantaleo's use of a fatal chokehold on Garner in 2014 sparked a nationwide outcry.
Daniel Pantaleo's use of a fatal chokehold on Garner in 2014 sparked a nationwide outcry.
Lydia O’Connor at HuffPost:
The New York City Police Department announced Monday that it is firing Daniel Pantaleo, the officer who put Eric Garner in a fatal chokehold in 2014.
The announcement comes more than two weeks after the judge presiding over Pantaleo’s disciplinary trial made a nonbinding recommendation for his dismissal. The decision ultimately fell to NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill.
“None of us can take back our decisions, most especially when they lead to the death of another human being,” O’Neill said in a press conference Monday announcing Pantaleo’s firing.
Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice said it would not pursue federal civil rights charges against Pantaleo, whose deadly use of force on Garner as the other man cried, “I can’t breathe,” set off national outrage. The DOJ’s decision was announced right before the applicable five-year statute of limitations expired.
New York City’s Civilian Complaint Review Board, which prosecuted the disciplinary case, agreed with the judge’s recommendation that Pantaleo be fired.
“The evidence the CCRB’s prosecutors brought forth at trial was more than sufficient to prove that Pantaleo is unfit to serve,” the board said in a statement. “Commissioner O’Neill must uphold this verdict and dismiss Pantaleo from the Department.”
Officer Daniel Pantaleo was seen on camera in 2014 putting the father in a fatal and illegal chokehold.
Sebastian Murdock at HuffPost:
A judge has recommended that the New York police officer who put Eric Garner in a fatal chokehold in 2014 should be fired.
The judge, who is presiding over the disciplinary trial of NYPD cop Daniel Pantaleo, made the recommendation on Friday, law enforcement sources told reporters. But the recommendation doesn’t mean an automatic dismissal from the department. More from NBC New York:
Next, both Pantaleo’s attorney and attorneys for the Civilian Complaint Review Board, which prosecuted the case, will have an opportunity to meet with the judge to discuss the decision before it goes to NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill, who will ultimately make the decision on the officer’s future. The attorneys have up to two weeks to do that, then the departmental judge sends her final findings to O’Neill, who will decide whether to fire Pantaleo or not.
The Department of Justice said in July that Pantaleo would not face charges in the killing. Video of the incident showed Garner crying out “I can’t breathe” several times before he died.
New York’s Civilian Complaint Review Board agreed with the judge’s assessment in a statement.
Julián Castro has been slowly making his way into night two of the second round of Democratic debates in Detroit. Unfortunately, Castro doesn’t stick out as much as John Delaney and has had a harder time getting CNN moderators’ attention.
Walter Einenkel at Daily Kos:
Julián Castro has been slowly making his way into night two of the second round of Democratic debates in Detroit.
[...]
Castro: It's much more that. This was a great example, the other day, the Department of Justice not going after the officer—officer Pantaleo—officer Pantaleo used a choke hold that was prohibited by NYPD. He did that for seven seconds, 11 different times Eric Garner said he couldn't breathe. He knew what he was doing, that he was killing Eric Garner, and yet he has not been brought to justice. That police officer should be off the streets.
Julián Castro took NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio to the woodshed for his inaction on how to deal with NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo, who should be fired and in jail.
Daniel Pantaleo will not face federal civil rights charges in a death that prompted a national outcry.
DoJ prosecutors decline to bring charges against NYPD’s Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Garner, 43, who died in 2014 after being put in a chokehold
AP, via The Guardian:
Federal prosecutors won’t bring civil rights charges against a New York City police officer in the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday.
The decision not to bring charges against Daniel Pantaleo comes a day before the statute of limitations was set to expire, on the fifth anniversary of the encounter that led to Garner’s death. The person was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Officers were attempting to arrest Garner on charges he sold loose, untaxed cigarettes outside a Staten Island convenience store. He refused to be handcuffed, and officers took him down.
Garner is heard on bystander video crying out “I can’t breathe” at least 11 times before he falls unconscious. He later died. Garner was black; Pantaleo is white. Garner’s death, along with the deaths of other black men at the hands of police, became a rally cry for police reform activists.
A state grand jury also refused to indict the officer on criminal charges.
Garner’s family and attorney were meeting with federal prosecutors at 10 am on Tuesday. A news conference was planned after with the Rev Al Sharpton, and they were expected to address the outcome. Pantaleo’s attorney, Stuart London, said he was not immediately aware of the decision.
Chokeholds are banned under police policy. Pantaleo maintained he used a legal takedown maneuver called the “seatbelt.”
The medical examiner’s office said a chokehold contributed to Garner’s death.
The New York police department brought Pantaleo up on departmental charges earlier this year. Federal prosecutors were observing the proceedings. An administrative judge has not ruled whether he violated policy. He could face dismissal, but Police Commissioner James O’Neill has the final say.
In the years since the Garner death, Pantaleo has remained on the job but not in the field, and activists have decried his paycheck that included union-negotiated raises.
This is a gross injustice.
Federal civil prosecutors have recommended to Justice Dept. officials that the cop involved in the chokehold death of Garner face charges.
Andrew Keshner, James Fanelli, and Rocco Parascandola at NYDN:
Federal civil rights prosecutors and top Justice Department officials are reportedly at odds over charging an NYPD officer in the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner.
A recommendation to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo has reached the desk of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, but no decision has been made on whether to move forward with the case, according to The New York Times.
Justice Department officials were reticent to proceed with a case considered difficult to win, and the Times reported that one law enforcement official said it was unlikely Rosenstein would approve the charges.
“It looks like the people who worked the case want (Pantaleo) indicted,” said civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton. “They need Rosenstein and (Attorney General Jeff) Sessions to sign off on it.”
Lawyers for both the Garner family and Pantaleo said they heard nothing about the possibility of charges against the officer as the fourth anniversary of the death looms.
Nixing the charges “would be a huge disappointment,” said family attorney Jonathan Moore, who expressed concerns about the reported divide between the department’s top echelon and the actual case investigators.
Moore said the Garner family last met with prosecutors in the case this past June at a downtown Brooklyn hotel where they were joined by a pair of FBI agents, too.
The criminal investigation may finally be moving forward.
In an unusual move that could jump-start the stalled investigation into Eric Garner’s death, the Justice Department has reportedly replaced the New York-based team working on the case with outside agents.
Garner died in 2014 after he was placed in an illegal chokehold by Officer Daniel Pantaleo on a street corner in Staten Island. A bystander filmed the interaction, and Garner’s final words — “I can’t breathe” — became a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Despite the footage of the encounter, a grand jury declined to indict Pantaleo for Garner’s death, sparking more protests at the end of 2014.
Two years later, Pantaleo, who was put on desk duty, received a substantial pay raise — while the bystander who filmed the encounter, Ramsey Orta, received a four-year jail sentence for separate drugs and weapons charges. Orta has said that since filming Garner’s death, he has been harassed and arrested by the cops in retribution for circulating the footage.
Separately, a federal investigation into whether the officers violated Garner’s civil rights has been ongoing for the past two years. However, according to the New York Times, it’s been slowed down by a dispute between agencies. Federal prosecutors and FBI officials in New York opposed bringing charges, saying they’re skeptical they can prove in court that a crime had been committed, while prosecutors from the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department in Washington, D.C. argued there was enough evidence to do so.
Now, the New York FBI officials have been replaced with outside agents, and prosecutors in Brooklyn are no longer assigned to the case, five federal officials told the Times, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The shakeup could mean that the case may finally move forward — and that criminal charges may be brought against the officers involved in Garner’s death, including Pantaleo. It’s unclear how long the investigation may ultimately continue, or whether the DOJ civil rights prosecutors will be the ones presenting evidence in front of a grand jury if charges are brought.
h/t: Laurel Raymond at Think Progress