It’s More Obvious Than Ever Pantaleo Should Have Been Charged With Eric Garner’s Death

The Public Execution Of GarnerNYPD-Officer-Daniel-Pataleo

Pantaleo, a white NYPD officer, caught Garner, 43, breaking up a fight in Staten Island and proceeded to arrest him.

Cellphone footage, which the grand jury saw, shows the whole situation unfold.

Garner started telling police to “leave him alone” and gesturing aggressively, which some consider resisting arrest. Pantaleo then placed Garner in a chokehold and wrestled him to the ground so fellow officers could cuff him. Garner soon began gasping for air and audibly saying, “I can’t breathe.” He went into cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital and died.

The medical examiner ruled Garner’s death a homicide, caused by “the compression of [Garner’s] chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police.”

Garner did suffer from obesity and asthma, both potentially lessening Pantaleo’s responsibility in the eyes of the law. But a court never had a chance consider those factors — a grand jury declined to indict the officer responsible.

That means at least 16 people decided the circumstances surrounding Eric Garner’s death didn’t even warrant further investigation.

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