The New York Police Department has fired Officer Daniel Pantaleo, 5 Years after he killed 43-year-old Eric Garner while making an arrest for selling bootleg cigarettes on the street. The job termination comes a month after federal prosecutors announced no charges would be filed against Pantaleo in Garner’s murder.
The NYPD took action after an administrative judge recommended he be terminated earlier this month. In 2014 a grand jury declined to indict Pantaleo for murder. His attorney claimed he was only doing his job when he spotted Garner selling single cigarettes on the street, and choked the life out of him while he pleaded for mercy.
Garner’s death sparked riots in NYC and peaceful rallies all over the country. Black NBA players such as LeBron James, Kevin Garnett and Derrick Rose wore t-shirts printed with Garner’s dying declaration: “I can’t breathe” in support of Garner’s family.
In 2017 a Staten Island judge approved nearly $4 million in payments to Garner’s family from a $5.9 million wrongful death settlement with the city.
Months later, Garner’s eldest daughter, Erica Garner, died from an apparent heart attack. Erica became an activist for police reform after her father’s death.
