USA-NEW YORK/GARNER-SHARPTON Family of New York chokehold victim renews calls to charge officer

Record ID: 147149

  • Title: USA-NEW YORK/GARNER-SHARPTON Family of New York chokehold victim renews calls to charge officer
  • Date: 14th July 2015
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JULY 14, 2015) (REUTERS) CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER REVEREND AL SHARPTON APPROACHING PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (English) CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER REVEREND AL SHARPTON, SAYING: "The family is given a settlement, but Eric Garner and the community has not received justice. Money is not justice. Money is a recognition of the loss of the family, but it does not
  • Embargoed: 29th July 2015 13:00
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  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVABS035USBPNWF1CH2C1J7L0QTG
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The family of Eric Garner, a black man who died after a white police officer put him in a chokehold a year ago, renewed calls to criminally charge the police officer on Tuesday (July 14), a day after the family reached a $5.9 million (USD) settlement with New York City.
    A grand jury in December declined to indict the officer, Daniel Pantaleo, who placed Garner, 43, in the chokehold, a maneuver banned by the New York City Police Department. A video that a bystander took of the incident sparked protests across the country over police treatment of minority groups.
    After the state grand jury declined to indict, then-U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in December promised a full investigation into Garner's death.
    Nearly one year after Garner's death on New York's Staten Island borough, his widow, Esaw Garner, his mother, Gwen Carr, and three of his children held a press conference on Tuesday in New York alongside civil rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton.
    "The family is given a settlement, but Eric Garner and the community has not received justice. Money is not justice," said Sharpton.
    "This settlement that we get, people walking up and down the street, they're saying congratulations, don't congratulate us, this is not a victory. This victory will come when we get justice, then we want to have a victory party," said Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner.
    They called for charges in connection with his death.
    "We are calling on the Department of Justice and Loretta Lynch to deliver justice for my father. My father was killed on video and there has not been any justice or admission of guilt," said Erica Garner, daughter of Eric Garner.
    Garner, a father of six, was accused of illegally selling cigarettes on a sidewalk when Pantaleo put him in the chokehold from behind and brought him down with the help of other officers. Garner complained repeatedly that he could not breathe.
    The city medical examiner ruled Garner's death a homicide, with asthma and obesity as contributing factors.
    New York City agreed to pay Garner's family $5.9 million to resolve the claim over his death, officials said on Monday.
    The Garner settlement is among a series of large settlements agreed to over the past two years by City Comptroller Scott Stringer and Mayor Bill de Blasio to resolve cases of alleged police brutality.
    A separate settlement was reached with the hospital that employed emergency medical technicians who responded to the scene and did not aid Garner. Terms of that agreement have not been released.
    Garner's family had filed a claim in October seeking $75 million in damages.
    Tuesday's press conference was the first of a number of events marking the Friday anniversary of Garner's death.
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