The NY Post claims autopsy revealed no damage to the victim's throat. It's hard to be believe strangulation was the cause.
A far more likely cause, positional asphixiation and "cardio-respiratory arrest during restraint" is responsible for Mr. Gardner's death.
I'm not going to waste time on the merits of the case. I do question whether law enforcement officers understand when severely obese perpetrators are subdued, s/he risks suffocation under their own weight. The risk is multiple if LEOs add pressure to victims back. Yes, this is likely a relatively new phenomena accompanying the shocking rise on obesity. It needs to be addressed in LEO training.
I'll never cease to be amazed at the excuses certain people will give for the police killing black people. The ease with which this happens suggests a complete and total disregard for the humanity of the murdered person. Yes: murdered.
Lest all you "kill 'em all" types forget: the OCME for New York ruled Garner's death a homicide. The fact that you clearly don't give a damn doesn't change that reality.
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Daniel Pantaleo is a murderer.
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Fortunately Dan Donovan the incompetent DA who handled this case was just defeated in his congressional reelection bid. Donavan's actions in the Garner case were reprehensible and the fact that he was ever elected to congress was an added travesty.
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If anyone, especially the people posting comments, wants to get the real story about Eric Garner's life and death I recommend reading Matt Taibbi's book "I Can't Breathe".
For starters Officer Pantaleo had numerous brutality complaints on his record. The NYC medical examiner called it a homicide. The merchants who the police claimed had complained about Garner selling loose cigarettes had made no such complaints. There was a history of bad blood between the local police and Garner and his friends over what Garner and friends perceived as harassment over minor violations. The whole aftermath followed a familiar pattern starting with the usual "he was no choirboy" which many of the comments here have stated. Donovan gamed the grand jury. There's lots more
Read the book.
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Once again, the bane of our existence, a cell phone, deceives those of lesser intelligence. Where is the footage of what went down prior to his being on the ground? Those who pretend to be "photojournalists" always seem to video only the end result of police actions and not the events leading up to force being used. I wasn't there and so don't know what Eric Garner did or didn't do to cause the police to use force.
However, I do know that these stories typically involve someone not obeying a police officer's instructions. I learned as a child that when the police ask you to do something, you just do it.
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And when someone says “I can’t breathe” just keep on choking the man. He might have been selling loonies.
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It's time to stop blaming the police for trying to take down a repeat offender who is resisting arrest!
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Yes. A man selling loosies should be choked to death. If he says “I can’t breathe “ 12 times. just keep choking! Can’t have someone going around selling loosies!
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Why can’t people accept the facts?
Mr. Garner was a career criminal, who refused a lawful order of the PD, and in carrying out their duties, he succumbed to a death that was a result of his lifestyle.
If you can’t breathe, you can’t cry out I can’t breathe.
NYC paid out millions to this criminals family and now they want to imprison the Officer who was doing the job that Mayor Wilhem sent them out to do - crack down on quality of life crimes, protect NYCs tax stream, and keep crime down.
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Why does this article say nothing of Dan Donovan? The DA responsible for briefing the Grand Jury that declined to indict Pantaleo? Well, DD got his reward, temporarily--his grateful public sent him to DC to part of the Swamp. But a form of justice caught up with him Nov 6.
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I had read elsewhere that Mr. Garner was not as "innocent" as NYT reports, but that he regularly sent couriers south to buy as much as $500 worth of cigarettes at a time for sale as singles on the street. NYT, is that true? And, and other commenters have claimed, was the "take down" truly by a prohibited choke hold or another type of hold to control and resisting suspect? And, was it the "hold" or the compression of his body to control his resistance once on the ground that was found to be the actual cause of death. NYT, you owe the reading public the truth of the situation. Have you reported the whole truth? From some of the comments, it would seem that you have not done so. Won't you clarify it all now, even at this late date? Thank you.
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This was murder.
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Eric Garner is responsible for Eric Garner's death. Eric Garner never wanted to follow laws and didn't care about anyone but himself. He refused to follow simple commands. How sad. Welcome to America.
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I like mob rule as much as the next chap but Eric Garner was not “murdered.” The police were trying to arrest a very large man who was physically resisting; no one - no one - was trying to kill him. He was, invisibly, in very poor health. Not using a choke hold was a recent NYPD recommendation, not a law.
Too many believe that whatever they see must have caused Mr. Garner’s death. The officer’s arm around Mr. Garner’s neck does not even mean that he was choking him. Men resisting arrest often say they can’t breathe while being physically subdued; are the officers supposed to just release him?
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@Charlierf Why was he being arrested? For a violation even less serious than a parking violation? That's what we need cops for? Oh and btw nobody has seen him sell a cigarette yet. That's the point. Write a summons and be done ith it.
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@Charlierf You're joking, right? A man dies for selling cigarettes, and you argue that (a) he ought to be arrested, and (b) a choke hold is the right way to subdue him? I think that kind of thinking is ridiculous! Try again!
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@Charlierf
Continue to cherry pick, and deflect, but in my opinion, the "Mob" is you, and racially motivated men likely you.
The choke hold was specifically barred for use by police officers. At the very least it is misconduct. I Believe it was murder, pure and simple. Your deflection "what should the police do?" is very simple to answer, do not murder a man for selling cigarettes, legally or not.
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Shades of Laquan McDonald...nevertheless, I hope they persist and get the records.
@Katrin From all reports in NYT, it is nothing like the McDonald case. In that case I was disturbed by reportage that he was "walking away" from the police "line", implying that he was shot in the back. From the video I saw, he began to walk "wide" of the line, but not what "away" from it would suggest. That case was pretty clearly repeated use of excessive deadly force, certainly once McDonald was on the ground. The Garner case seems totally different.
The officer did not apply a “choke” hold. He improperly employed a “carotid” hold. When properly applied, the carotid hold is a very effective way of subduing an uncooperative subject such as Garner.
The only crimes committed here were committed by Garner by illegally selling cigarettes and then resisting arrest.
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@Jesse James
is there a need to subdue someone whose offense was illegal sale of cigarettes. was he violent in any way or endangering anyone.?
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@Jesse James
The "carotid hold" is "effective" in subduing subjects but the carotid hold and the choke hold, which Pantaleo was clearly using in the video https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner , also have a well-documented history of killing those subjects.
Pantaleo was using lethal force in violation of New York City police procedures when Garner presented no threat to anyone's life. Garner was surrounded by five policemen, who should have been enough to handcuff him without using lethal force.
A jury could have reasonably concluded that Garner died as a result of Pantaleo's use of illegal lethal force. At the very least, Pantaleo should have been fired to prevent him from using unnecessary lethal force again. Pantaleo had a long history of civilian complaints, several of them sustained.
Unfortunately, grand juries on Staten Island will let cops go free even after they needlessly kill non-threatening people as a result of negligence and violating NYPD policy. Pantaleo has now killed more civilians than most criminals.
https://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/24/nyregion/kelly-bans-choke-holds-by-officers.html
"The New York City Police Department has issued an order banning the use of choke holds, the restraining maneuvers that cut off the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain and have been blamed in the deaths of suspects here and around the nation."
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Since the policeman used a chokehold, which was no longer allowed by the police department, he should have been fired long ago. Killing a man for selling cigarettes on the street????? How can anyone justify this???
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That call him whatever you want cop should have been dismissed and brought up on charges long ago and is emblematic of why people hate cops. To ven think of using force for selling a bootleg cigarette for $1 just utter nonsense. And don't give me this nonsense he was "resisting a lawful arrest." Write a summons like they do with any other vendor and be done with it. So many arrests are nonsense and should be treated similar to parking violations. The fact the cop is still on the force sitting in some office is a farce. It is indicative of the attitude so many cops have that they are special and the public who they supposedly serve are not important. Dismiss him on the spot and take away his pension. Oh and I don't want to hear he was just following orders. Check out Germany in the 40's to see what that led to.
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@JEFF S
Garner was a criminal. Case closed
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@JEFF S
It does not matter whether or not he should have been arrested, that is what we have courts and juries for. Last time I looked coming under arrest is not optional. I agree with posters above that he did not die as a result of an alleged chokehold (look carefully at the video and time the length of the arm around his upper chest).
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@Jake The "resisting arrest" was very passive and verbal. It would have made much more sense to either wait him out or bring in an officer trained to handle such situations. My point still remains. Given the trivial, very trivial nature of the supposed offense, it merited a summons and not an arrest and there was no need to aggressively arrest the guy and cuff him. The police simply have no sense of dealing with people other than brute, aggressive force. Arresting and cuffing somebody should be reserved for real crimes, not trivial ones such as this even less serious than a parking violation. Or do you think people should be cuffed because the flag is up on a parking meter?
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The video shows Daniel Pantaleo did not choke Eric Garner to death. It shows Pantaleo held the chokehold for only a few seconds, not long enough to choke someone to death. ‘
The medical examiner’s office blamed Garner’s preexisting medical conditions, the chokehold and “the compression of [Garner’s] chest and prone positioning during physical restraint” for Garner’s death. According to the New York Police Department, Garner died of a heart attack in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.
If Pantaleo choked Garner to death, how could Garner still be alive and talking after Pantaleo released the chokehold? If the chokehold killed Garner, how could he still be alive with officers placed him in a prone position? How could he still be alive when placed in the ambulance?
A medical examiner’s press release is not evidence. No one knows what the medical examiner told the grand jury when asked if Pantaleo’s chokehold killed Garner, but it apparently did not support an indictment.
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@William Case
At issue is how the police responded to Eric Garner, which led to his death. The choke hold, which has been banned by NYC police department was employed. There are also issues of racial profiling. African Americans and people of color, are routinely approached more than whites. Had they not harassed him over selling cigarettes and not arrested him, Eric Garner would still be alive. The issue, was unnecessary force used, I say yes. Did Pantaleo act in a way that contributed to Garner's death, I say yes.
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@sociophile
How can you accuse Pantaleo of racial profiling when his sergeant--a black police officer--ordered him and other officers to arrest Garner after undercover offices purchased black market cigarettes from Garner? The sale of untaxed cigarettes costs New York City millions of dollars in tax revenue a year. It is not a trivia offense. If Garner had not resisted arrest, there would have been no force required. The video shows that Pantaleo applied a headlock that briefly slipped into chokehold as the two crashed into a store display window.
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@William Case
New York City has many residents with pre-existing conditions. If you treat them as if you were in a wrestling match, you could kill them. If you can't deal with that fact, you shouldn't be a New York City police officer.
After the choke hold, Garner was lying on the ground. His "talking" was limited to saying "I can't breathe." Then one cop told him to "breathe in, breathe out" (without giving CPR). So he wasn't breathing.
The reason the NYPD banned the choke hold is that it has repeatedly caused deaths in past situations much like Garner's. A jury could reasonably conclude that Pantaleo's choke hold led to Garner's death.
Staten Island is far more conservative (and white) than the rest of New York City. It's like the deep south, where a white cop can murder a black man and a jury will let them get away with it. And that's what happened.
2