NEW YORK _ The New York Police Department has suspended officer Daniel Pantaleo after a department judge recommended the cop be fired for his actions in the Staten Island chokehold death of Eric Garner, police said.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemary Maldonado's ruling on Pantaleo's fate came down Friday and Pantaleo was pulled off the roster "as is the long-standing practice in these matters when the recommendation is termination," NYPD spokesman Phil Walzak said.
Police Commissioner James O'Neill "has not been provided the draft report" and has not made a decision about whether to follow Maldonado's suggestion.
The Staten Island cop and Civilian Complaint Review Board, which prosecuted him, have 10 business days to review the judge's recommendation and respond before the file goes to O'Neill, who will make the final decision on Pantaleo's future.
Pantaleo was cleared by a grand jury in Garner's July 17, 2014, death on Bay Street in Staten Island. Officers were called to the area after people complained about Garner selling loose cigarettes, cops said.
Garner's death, with his oft-repeated final words of "I can't breathe," spurred the Black Lives Matter movement and led the NYPD to retrain its officers in de-escalation tactics. The dying declaration was captured on smartphone video that was first reported by the Daily News and soon made headlines around the world.
The Department of Justice announced last month that it would not charge the officer with violating Garner's civil rights. Both decisions infuriated the dead man's family and ignited protests around the city.
NYPD insiders expect O'Neill to fire Pantaleo, who has been working a desk job _ with no gun and shield _ since Garner died.
In her recommendation, Maldonado found Pantaleo guilty of one of the two charges against him _ that he recklessly used a chokehold, which is banned by the NYPD. She cleared him of the second charge, intentionally restricting Garner's breathing.
Pantaleo told the grand jury he used a department-approved seatbelt takedown maneuver on Garner, not a department-banned chokehold.
The Garner family has been in a legal limbo waiting to see what the department would do with Pantaleo.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, who supported Garner's family since the death of the father of six, said that, despite Maldonado's recommendation, the fight is far from over.
"Make no mistake about it, this is not justice for the Garner family," Sharpton said. "We intend to continue toward congressional hearings to have a (federal law) against the chokehold of police towards civilians."
"The commissioner needs to immediately, unequivocally accept the recommendation of the judge and remove him right away," Sharpton said. "The city should not have in its employ someone that would choke someone to death in violation of police guidelines. Someone that hears someone say 11 times 'I can't breathe.'"
Garner's daughter Emerald Snipes demanded O'Neill fire Pantaleo.
"That's all we're asking," she said. "Five years is too long. Commissioner O'Neill, do your job. We've been waiting for five years, and we don't want to wait no more."
Police Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch called Maldonado's decision "pure political insanity" that will "paralyze the NYPD for years to come."
"This judge ignored the evidence and trampled P.O. Pantaleo's due process rights in order to deliver the result that the grandstanding politicians and protesters demanded," Lynch said. "The only hope for justice now lies with Police Commissioner O'Neill. He knows the message that this decision sends to every cop: We are expendable, and we cannot expect any support from the city we protect. He knows that if he affirms this horrendous decision, he will lose his police department."
At Pantaleo's department trial, his lawyer, Stu London, argued that Garner's poor health played a role in the death. Garner weighed 390 pounds and suffered from diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular problems.
But the city Medical Examiner's office said it was a chokehold set in motion a "lethal cascade" of events that ended in a fatal asthma attack.
London did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The CCRB demanded that O'Neill "uphold this verdict and dismiss Pantaleo from the Department."
"The evidence the CCRB's prosecutors brought forth at trial was more than sufficient to prove that Pantaleo is unfit to serve," Chair Fred Davie said in a statement.
Pantaleo, a 13-year veteran of the department, stands to lose his pension if he's fired, keeping only the money he contributed to the pension fund.
If he decides to resign before O'Neill's decision, he forfeits the right to sue to get his job back.
