White New York Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo will not face any charges for putting black suspect Eric Garner in a chokehold that led to his death in July, a grand jury announced Wednesday, prompting nationwide protests and traffic-clogging marches against police brutality and racism.
The decision and the protests came as the nation is still dealing with the aftershocks from a similar decision not to indict a white police officer in the racially-charged case in Ferguson, Missouri.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and President Obama issued separate calls for calm in the reaction to the videotaped incident, with Mr. Obama vowing to continue trying to address frankly what he said were the underlying problems of racial profiling and mistrust between police and citizens highlighted by the case.
“We are not going to let up until we see a strengthening of the trust and a strengthening of the accountability that exists between our communities and our law enforcement,” Mr. Obama said. “I am absolutely committed as president of the United States to making sure that we have a country that everybody believes in the core principal that we are equal under the law.”
As in Ferguson, the Justice Department announced late Wednesday evening that the federal government will conduct its own investigation of the incident now that the grand jury has declined to act. Garner’s family could also still bring a civil suit against Officer Pantaleo and the police department.
The grand jury declined to indict Officer Pantaleo despite the widely circulated video showing Garner with his hands in the air before the officer grabbed him and put him in a chokehold. The coroner determined that the chokehold was the cause of death, and ruled the incident a homicide.
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Garner, who was overweight and asthmatic, can be seen in the video challenging a number of police officers after being stopped for allegedly selling illegal, untaxed cigarettes on a Staten Island sidewalk.
Demonstrations in New York, Washington and other cities broke out spontaneously Wednesday evening.
In New York, hundreds of protesters marched from Times Square to the annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting chanting “I can’t breathe,” Garner’s last words from inside the officer’s choke hold. There were other protests and vigils at the Staten Island site of Garner’s death and at Penn Station.
Protesters in Washington blocked some streets in the Dupont Circle neighborhood and a march in downtown Ferguson attracted about 200 demonstrators. “Another no indictment!” shouted high school junior Janie McCowan, according to The Associated Press.
But while New York did not see of the looting or violent riots that rocked Ferguson, Mr. de Blasio said the event has “put in stark perspective the relationship between police and community.”
“We have to find a way forward and we have to find a way forward together,” he said.
In a statement, Officer Pantaleo said he was never trying to hurt anyone.
“It is never my intention to harm anyone and I feel very bad about the death of Mr. Garner,” he said. “My family and I include him and his family in our prayers and I hope that they will accept my personal condolences for their loss.”
Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Rep. Marcia L. Fudge, Ohio Democrat, said she was “deeply disappointed” by the New York grand jury’s decision.
While appealing for calm, she said in a statement, “In the span of two weeks, this nation seems to have heard one message loud and clear: There will be no accountability for taking black lives. As an American, it is growing increasingly difficult to believe that there is justice for all.”
The grand jury’s announcement comes the same day the New York City Police Department announced it would start equipping officers with “body cameras.” The devices have been pushed by both police representatives and civil rights advocates as a way to get an unbiased recording of any incidents officers are involved in.
However, unlike the Ferguson confrontation between Officer Darren Wilson and Michael Brown, almost the entire incident was caught on film by a bystander and broadcast on TV shortly after.
A lawyer for the Garner family, Jonathan Moore, said he was shocked at the result.
“I am actually astonished based on the evidence of the videotape, and the medical examiner, that this grand jury at this time wouldn’t indict for anything,” Mr. Moore said.
The grand jury’s announcement brought swift condemnation by many civil rights advocates.
“How will the NYPD hold the officers involved accountable for his death?” said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan, Jr., released a statement thanking the grand jury for their time and commitment.
“Clearly, this matter was of special concern in that an unarmed citizen of our county had died in police custody,” he said.
• Phillip Swarts can be reached at pswarts@washingtontimes.com.
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