NYPD Fires Officer For Chokehold Death Of Eric Garner

New York City Police Commissioner James O'Neill

From The New York Times:

The New York City police officer whose chokehold was partly blamed for Eric Garner’s death in police custody in 2014 was fired from the Police Department on Monday, ending a bitter, five-year legal battle that had cast a shadow over the nation’s largest police force and the city it protects.

The police commissioner, James P. O’Neill, dismissed the officer, Daniel Pantaleo, just over two weeks after a police administrative judge found him guilty of violating a department ban on chokeholds.

“The unintended consequence of Mr. Garner’s death must have a consequence of its own,” Mr. O’Neill said. “Therefore I agree with the deputy commissioner of trial’s legal findings and recommendations. It is clear that Daniel Pantaleo can no longer effectively serve as a New York City police officer.”

The leader of the city’s largest police union immediately denounced the decision, saying Mr. O’Neill had bowed to “anti-police extremists” and that Mr. Pantaleo’s dismissal sent a message that the city did not stand behind its officers when they make arrests.

BREAKING: "The unintended consequence of Mr. Garner's death must have a consequence of its own."

NYPD officer involved in Eric Garner's death fired, NYPD commissioner announces: https://t.co/p5TX3vVZ3M pic.twitter.com/r6NMl9ny0Y

— ABC News (@ABC) August 19, 2019

“Eric Garner was killed five years ago. It took five years for the officer to be fired. I don’t want another Eric Garner,” says one of his daughters, Emerald Garner, after the firing of NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo. https://t.co/2yCV0s6rPc pic.twitter.com/ijoSsxKHzY

— CNN (@CNN) August 19, 2019

Garner died on July 17, 2014, after Officer Pantaleo tackled him from behind, then, along with other officers, jumped on top of Garner.

Video footage of the arrest showing Garner struggling for breath and repeatedly saying — “I can’t breathe” — quickly went viral and galvanized the Black Lives Matter movement.

Garner was being arrested on charges of selling untaxed, individual cigarettes on a street corner. For that crime, he was choked to death.

After watching the video himself, O'Neill said he came to two conclusions: Garner should not have resisted arrest; and that while Pantaleo began the interaction appropriately, the officer escalated to a prohibited chokehold.

I have this to say: at the time of his death, there were four - FOUR - police officers holding Garner down.

Nine times Garner, who was unarmed, said, "I can't breathe."

With three other police officers with him, couldn't Pantaleo have loosened his (prohibited) chokehold just a bit?

Eric Garner’s final words before then Officer Daniel Pantaleo used an illegal and fatal chokehold on Garner in 2014. pic.twitter.com/Wegv7DXmh2

— Karine Jean-Pierre (@K_JeanPierre) August 19, 2019

When someone claims white privilege is a myth, tell him/her about the tragic death of Eric Garner pic.twitter.com/OQDmzYnUOI

— elenadreams (@elenadreams2) August 19, 2019

No Charges For Officer Involved In Chokehold Death Of Eric Garner

(stock image via Pexels/Rosemary Ketchum)

There will be no charges for the police officer who put Eric Garner in a chokehold which ultimately led to Garner's death five years ago.

From The New York Times:

The Justice Department will not bring federal charges against a New York City police officer in the death of Eric Garner, ending a yearslong inquiry into a case that sharply divided officials and prompted national protests over excessive force by the police, according to three people briefed on the decision.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn intend to announce the decision not to bring criminal civil rights charges on Tuesday morning, just one day before the fifth anniversary of Mr. Garner’s death. That is the deadline by which they would have to file some of the possible charges against the officer, Daniel Pantaleo.

The decision extinguishes the hopes of the Garner family and their supporters that Officer Pantaleo might face prosecution in a case that ignited demonstrations and debates over the use of force by police officers and led to changes in policing practices across the United States.

Police officers were attempting to arrest Garner for selling individual cigarettes to passersby on the street, thus avoiding sales tax, when the episode escalated ending with Pantaleo choking Garner.

Bystanders recorded the incident where Garner could be heard saying, "I can't breathe." But Pantaleo did not release Garner. A medical examiner concluded that the pressure on Mr. Garner’s neck and chest set off a fatal asthma attack.

Pantaleo has been on desk duty since the incident five years ago which has allowed him to continue to get paid and add time to his pension.

BREAKING: Justice Department will not file charges against officer involved in the chokehold death of Eric Garner. https://t.co/FyCaXS0ftf pic.twitter.com/QgXw7GyYg6

— ABC News (@ABC) July 16, 2019

"We're not going away," Eric Garner's mother says following DOJ decision.

"You think it's swept under the rug? No! It's not going to be swept under the rug. Because, I'm out here. You all know my face. You're going to see it even more now." https://t.co/aLS5pDb9Y1 pic.twitter.com/SBu7TyVl2L

— ABC News (@ABC) July 16, 2019

"Pantaleo needs to be fired! He needs to be fired" Eric Garner's daughter Emerald blasts decision for no federal charges on NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo https://t.co/5X2QK5Mptl pic.twitter.com/SO0EXWKNsF

— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 16, 2019

And from New York State Attorney General Letitia James:

This inaction by the DOJ in the death of Eric Garner shows they've turned their back on seeking & serving justice.

We all saw the same devastating video 5 years ago. Our eyes did not lie.

We'll continue to fight to reform a criminal justice system that remains broken.

— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) July 16, 2019

Police Threaten To Shoot Father In The Head After 4-Year-Old Wanders Out Of Dollar Store With Doll

A little girl wandered out of a Dollar Family Store in Phoenix, Arizona, with a doll.

The parents didn't know the child had the doll until they got home.

As they parked at their apartment complex, a police officer responding to a shoplifting call drove up, the officers got out and this happened.

"When I tell you to do something, you f*cking do it!"

"I'm gonna f*cking put a cap right in your f*cking head!"

Just a tad over the top, no?

The father was kicked and punched, and the young girl was injured as well.

The family has filed a $10 million lawsuit for the trauma they experienced.

Another angle on the Phoenix police incident where an officer tries to forcibly remove a baby while using excessive force for a questionable arrest. Police Chief Williams has yet to confirm if any of these officers have been suspended while this is being investigated. pic.twitter.com/D9YH1qj6ol

— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) June 15, 2019

Police Chief Jeri Williams issued this statement about the recent excessive behavior saying she's disturbed by "the language and the actions of the officer" and there will be an investigation, but does discuss suspension or pay.

WATCH Jeri Williams' (@PhxPDChief) statement about the recent excessive behavior of Phoenix police caught on video-says she's disturbed by "the language and the actions of [the] officer" and there will be an investigation, but does discuss suspension or pay. (via @phoenixpolice) pic.twitter.com/P0LMFgYj4Q

— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) June 15, 2019

NFL's Michael Bennett Says He Was Singled Out By Las Vegas Police For Being Black

Michael Bennett

Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett tweeted today about an experience many African American men endure.

The short version of the story: after attending the Mayweather-McGregor fight in Las Vegas, Bennett was walking back to his hotel with hundreds of people. Folks heard what sounded like gun shots and began running. But police singled out Bennett, pulled their guns on him saying they would "blow his fucking head off."

He was cuffed and thrown in the back of a police car.

He was eventually released with no apology or explanation after they realized he's not a thug, but a Super Bowl champ.

Bennett has rightfully hired famed civil rights attorney John Burris.

Read his full account below.

Equality. pic.twitter.com/NQ4pJt94AZ

— Michael Bennett (@mosesbread72) September 6, 2017

From TMZ:

Cops allegedly threatened to blow Michael Bennett's f**king head off for being at the wrong place at the wrong time! #TMZ pic.twitter.com/yHPrBBxD99

— TMZ (@TMZ) September 6, 2017

Utah: Police Officer Under Investigation After Roughing Up Hospital Nurse

Whoa.

The Washington Post is reporting the story of a police officer who assaulted a nurse because she refused to allow the officer to draw a patient's blood without a warrant.

By all accounts, the head nurse at the University of Utah Hospital’s burn unit was professional and restrained when she told a Salt Lake City police detective he wasn’t allowed to draw blood from a badly injured patient.

The detective didn’t have a warrant, first off. And the patient wasn’t conscious, so he couldn’t give consent. Without that, the detective was barred from collecting blood samples — not just by hospital policy, but by basic constitutional law.

Still, Detective Jeff Payne insisted that he be let in to take the blood, saying the nurse would be arrested and charged if she refused. Nurse Alex Wubbels politely stood her ground. She got her supervisor on the phone so Payne could hear the decision loud and clear. “Sir,” said the supervisor, “you’re making a huge mistake because you’re threatening a nurse.”

Payne snapped. He seized hold of the nurse, shoved her out of the building and cuffed her hands behind her back. A bewildered Wubbels screamed “help me” and “you’re assaulting me” as the detective forced her into an unmarked car and accused her of interfering with an investigation.

According to additional reports, present at the time were University of Utah police & Department of Public Safety officers, who did not intervene.

Watch below.

WATCH: Shocking footage shows a Utah nurse being arrested for refusing to give a patient's blood to police pic.twitter.com/tVcc2WUBoi

— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 1, 2017

Trump To Police: "Please Don't Be Too Nice"

Speaking to an audience of police officers in Long Island, New York, Donald Trump encouraged the officers not be "too nice" to folks they arrest.

“When you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just see them thrown in. Rough. I said, ‘Please don’t be too nice.’

"Like when you guys put somebody in the car, and you’re protecting their head, you know, you put your hand up like, ‘Don’t hit their head?’ And, they’ve just killed somebody? I said, ‘You can take the hand away.'”

Here's the president of the United States encouraging police officers to be rough with people they arrest pic.twitter.com/iLzoUEY89e

— David Mack (@davidmackau) July 28, 2017

Note the one guy in a cowboy hat on the right not applaud.

Remember when folks were considered innocent until proven guilty?

The president basically just told a crowd of cops to rough people up when they make arrests…

— Patrick Caldwell (@patcaldwell) July 28, 2017

Donald just gave a speech encouraging police brutality...

— Montel Williams (@Montel_Williams) July 28, 2017

Trump says that he's okay with police being rougher on arrested suspects, such as hitting their head on police car. Crowd of police cheers.

— David Nakamura (@DavidNakamura) July 28, 2017

The President really does have a genuine, unmistakable talent for bringing out the worst in people.

— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) July 28, 2017

Trump is LITERALLY encouraging police brutality right now during his speech to a group of law enforcement officers.

— Shareblue (@Shareblue) July 28, 2017

(h/t JoeMyGod)