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“This has been a long battle, five years too long ... And finally, somebody has said that there is some information that this cop has done something wrong.”
After five years, the officer involved in the death of Eric Garner may be fired from the NYPD, following a police judge recommended Friday that he be sacked for wrongdoing.
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Garner was killed in 2014 after police officers accused him of selling unlicensed cigarettes and put him in an deathly and unwarrented chokehold. His death triggered outrage around the country and galvanized the Black Lives Matter movement.
“This has been a long battle, five years too long ... And finally, somebody has said that there is some information that this cop has done something wrong,” said Garner’s daughter, Emerald Snipes Garner, in a press conference with civil rights icon, Al Sharpton.
Being fired is the only applicable punishment, as the Staten Island grand jury never filed an indictment against the officer at fault, Daniel Pantaleo. Federal prosecutors also failed to file charges last month.
The ‘Police Benevolent Association’ rejected the judges recommendation and defended Pantaleo. Patrick Lynch, the associations president, said, “This decision is pure political insanity. If it is allowed to stand, it will paralyze the NYPD for years to come.”
The officers involved in the killing were not charge in criminal court. However, the grand jury did indict the man who filmed Garner's murder. Charges were made after months of police harassment for his role in bringing the incident to light.
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