The lawyer of former police officer Daniel Pantaleo, infamous for his role in the killing of unarmed black man Eric Garner, revealed Saturday his client wants to rejoin the New York Police Department.
“The unbelievable part is this has not soured him one bit on doing law enforcement,” his lawyer Stuart London told local newspaper NY Daily News.
Pantaleo was not indicted last December by a court in Staten Island over the death of Garner, which was caught on video by bystanders and subsequently sparked massive protests across the United States. However, the police officer is still under investigation by the United States' Department of Justice.
Last year, NYPD stripped him of his gun and badge and launched an investigation on his actions regarding Garner's death. This has impeded Pantaleo from continuing his cop duties, and has since been assigned to do paper work.
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Another investigation was launched by Internal Affairs, but has been paused until the DOJ investigation concludes.
Pantaleo has allegedly received several death threats since December and is currently receiving police protection.
Eric Garner, a father of six, was assailed by a group of white police officers and put into chokehold by Pantaleo July 17, 2014. Garner was allegedly selling illegal cigarettes when the police accosted him. Garner, who was unarmed, denied the charge and told the police he was tired of being harassed, which elicited them to violently arrest him.
In the video recording of his death that was shared widely on social media, his last words were reportedly “I can’t breathe,” which became a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter Movement.