'Today we can't breathe.' DOJ will not bring civil rights charge against NYPD officer in death of Eric Garner

A New York City police officer will not face federal charges in the 2014 death of Eric Garner. USA

Story by USA Today

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department will not bring federal charges against a New York City police officer over the death of Eric Garner during a chaotic arrest that ignited nationwide protests five years ago.

The decision, announced Tuesday by Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Richard P. Donoghue, marks the end of a civil rights probe into an episode – much of it captured on video – that helped turn a national spotlight on how police officers use force against minorities.

“Like many of you, I have watched that video many times, and each time I’ve watched it, I’m left with the same reaction: that the death of Eric Garner was a tragedy," Donoghue said. "The job of a federal prosecutor, however, is not to let our emotions dictate our decisions. Our job is to review the evidence gathered during the investigation, like the video, to assess whether we can prove that a federal crime was committed."

Authorities spent years investigating Garner's death in an examination that proved contentious both inside and outside of the Justice Department. Attorneys in the department's Civil Rights Division long advocated for bringing a criminal charge, while prosecutors in Brooklyn recommended against it.

In the end, Donoghue said Attorney General William Barr broke the logjam, deciding in recent days that Justice would not bring a federal civil rights prosecution against officer Daniel Pantaleo.

"The video and the other evidence gathered in the investigation does not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Pantaleo acted willfully in violation of federal law,” Donoghue said.

Garner, a 43-year-old black man, was accused of selling single cigarettes outside a store on Staten Island when Pantaleo attempted to arrest him. Garner gasped, "I can't breathe," after Pantaleo and other officers knocked him to the ground with Pantaleo holding him around the head and neck. The video of the encounter would later become a social media phenomenon.

Garner died soon after. His last words, however, became a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement, whose members have staged demonstrations across the county against what they call excessive force by police. The campaign gained increased notoriety as professional athletes and Hollywood's elite took up the cause, some donning T-shirts emblazoned with Garner's last words.

“We’re here with heavy hearts because the DOJ has failed us," Garner's mother, Gwen Carr, said Tuesday. "Although we looked for better from them, five years ago my son said ‘I can’t breathe’ 11 times, and today we can’t breathe because they have let us down.”

The city medical examiner listed Garner's cause of death as "compression of neck (choke hold), compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police." The officer's lawyer, Stuart London, and the police union have denied that Pantaleo used a choke-hold maneuver banned by the NYPD.

The city paid a $5.9 million civil settlement to Garner's family. Pantaleo has been assigned to administrative duty since Garner's death.