A Staten Island grand jury could decide as early as Wednesday whether to bring charges against a New York police officer in the case of Eric Garner, who died after the officer put him in a chokehold.
The impending decision follows last week’s announcement that a Missouri grand jury decided not to indict white police officer Darren Wilson, who fatally shot unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in August. The announcement renewed for days nationwide protests that began after Brown’s death.
Police said the officers approached Garner, who is black, because he was selling loose cigarettes and resisting arrest. Video of the 17 July incident shows Garner’s struggle with police officers including Daniel Pantaleo, who is white and held his arm around Garner in an apparent chokehold. In the video, Garner can be heard saying: “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.”
Chokeholds are banned under New York police policy.
A medical examiner classified Garner’s death as a homicide caused by the chokehold and compressions suffered “during physical restraint by police”.
Pantaleo is the only person facing indictment. His lawyer Daniel M Donovan Jr told the New York Times that the other officers involved in the struggle had been given immunity.
Like in Ferguson, jurors, who have been investigating the incident since September, are deciding whether or not the police officer should be indicted and brought to trial. A decision will probably be announced before the end of the year – and as early as Wednesday, according to the Associated Press and other media reports.
The NYPD has said it is “planning accordingly” for demonstrations that could follow the decision.
“People have a right to protest peacefully and we will respect that right,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said. “But if we think public safety is compromised, then the police will act very assertively to address that problem.”
Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, said on Saturday that she wants protests to remain peaceful following the announcement. “I wouldn’t want them to tear up the town but you know that has to stop … they can’t go on killing our sons, our fathers, our brothers of color and getting away with it,” Carr said while speaking at the Rev Al Sharpton’s National Action Network headquarters in New York City.
