This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/16/nyregion/eric-garner-daniel-pantaleo.html

The article has changed 10 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 5 Version 6
Eric Garner’s Death Will Not Lead to Federal Charges for N.Y.P.D. Officer Eric Garner’s Death Will Not Lead to Federal Charges for N.Y.P.D. Officer
(about 3 hours later)
[What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.][What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.]
The Justice Department will not bring federal charges against a New York City police officer in the death of Eric Garner, ending a yearslong inquiry into a case that sharply divided officials and prompted national protests over excessive force by the police. A contentious, yearslong debate inside the Justice Department over whether to bring federal civil rights charges against an officer in the death of Eric Garner ended on Tuesday after Attorney General William P. Barr ordered that the case be dropped.
The United States attorney in Brooklyn, Richard P. Donoghue, announced the decision not to bring criminal civil rights charges on Tuesday morning, one day before the fifth anniversary of Mr. Garner’s death. The United States attorney in Brooklyn, Richard P. Donoghue, announced the decision one day before the fifth anniversary of Mr. Garner’s death at the hands of police officers in Staten Island.
Bystanders filmed the arrest that led to his death on their cellphones, recording Mr. Garner as he gasped “I can’t breathe,” and his dying words became a rallying cry for protesters across the nation. His death was one of several fatal encounters between black people and the police that catalyzed the national Black Lives Matter movement. The case had sharply divided federal officials and prompted national protests over excessive force by the police.
A Staten Island grand jury declined to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who was seen on the video wrapping his arm around Mr. Garner’s neck, and the federal investigation dragged on for years amid internal disputes in the Justice Department, both under President Obama and President Trump. Bystanders filmed the arrest on their cellphones, recording Mr. Garner as he gasped “I can’t breathe,” and his death was one of several fatal encounters between black people and the police that catalyzed the national Black Lives Matter movement.
In the end, Attorney General William P. Barr made the call not to seek a civil rights indictment against Officer Pantaleo on civil rights charges, just before the five-year deadline for filing charges expired. His dying words became a rallying cry for demonstrations that led to changes in policing practices across the United States.
On Tuesday morning, Mr. Donoghue called Mr. Garner’s death a tragedy, but said “the evidence does not support charging Police Officer Pantaleo with a federal civil rights violation.” He went over the entire arrest step-by-step and said the government could not prove Officer Pantaleo willfully used excessive force to violate Mr. Garner’s rights as required under the law. Still, a Staten Island grand jury declined to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who was captured on a video wrapping his arm around Mr. Garner’s neck. The federal civil rights investigation dragged on for five years amid internal disputes in the Justice Department, under both President Barack Obama and President Trump.
The decision extinguishes the hopes of the Garner family and their supporters that Officer Pantaleo might face federal prosecution in a case that ignited demonstrations and debates over the use of force by police officers and led to changes in policing practices across the United States. In the end, Mr. Barr made the call not to seek a civil rights indictment against Officer Pantaleo, just before a deadline for filing some charges expired.
After meeting with prosecutors, Mr. Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, denounced the decision, saying she would keep pushing to hold the officers involved in the arrest accountable. They also called on the city to fire Officer Pantaleo. His intervention settled the disagreement between prosecutors in the civil rights division, which has pushed for an indictment, and Brooklyn prosecutors, who never believed the department could win such a case.
“We might not never know justice in the D.O.J., but I think there will be justice, and we’re going to keep fighting,” Ms. Carr said “We’re not going away, so you can forget that.” On Tuesday morning, Mr. Donoghue called Mr. Garner’s death a tragedy, but said “the evidence does not support charging Police Officer Pantaleo with a federal civil rights violation.” He went over the arrest step by step, maintaining the government could not prove Officer Pantaleo willfully used excessive force to violate Mr. Garner’s rights.
The Garner family and their supporters immediately condemned Mr. Barr’s decision, saying the Justice Department had failed them.
Mr. Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, shifted the pressure to Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York, calling on the city to fire Officer Pantaleo and vowing to fight to hold the officers involved in the arrest accountable.
“We’re not going away, so you can forget that,” Ms. Carr said. “New Yorkers need to come out and flood this city tomorrow.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton, who was standing with her, added: “Five years ago, Eric Garner was choked to death; today the federal government choked Lady Justice, and that is why we are outraged.”The Rev. Al Sharpton, who was standing with her, added: “Five years ago, Eric Garner was choked to death; today the federal government choked Lady Justice, and that is why we are outraged.”
In June, the Police Department finished a disciplinary trial to determine if Officer Pantaleo should be fired or punished in some other way for using what appeared to be a chokehold, which the department had banned more than two decades ago. At a later rally on the steps of City Hall, a parade of family members, community leaders, local politicians and civil rights lawyers vented their fury at Mr. Barr and other officials.
It is ultimately up to Commissioner James P. O’Neill, as the final arbiter of police discipline, to decide whether to fire Officer Pantaleo or take less drastic action, like docking vacation time. Stu London, an attorney for Officer Pantaleo, said that his client was “gratified” to hear of the Justice Department decision.
But Mr. O’Neill will not make a formal decision until the police administrative judge who oversaw the disciplinary trial renders her verdict, and he is still awaiting her report, a spokesman for the department, Philip T. Walzak, said in a statement. “Because of the need to protect the integrity of the process, the N.Y.P.D. will not comment further at this time,” the statement said. Patrick J. Lynch, the president of the Police Benevolent Association, said Officer Pantaleo had been unfairly singled out for blame and was carrying out a superior’s orders.
Officer Pantaleo, 34, has been on desk duty without a shield or a gun since Mr. Garner died, a status that has allowed him to accrue pay and pension benefits. “Scapegoating a good and honorable officer, who was doing his job in the manner he was taught, will not heal the wounds this case has caused for our entire city,” Mr. Lynch said.
Mr. Garner, who was 43, died on a Staten Island sidewalk on July 17, 2014, after Officer Pantaleo wrapped an arm around his neck from behind and took him to the ground and other officers put their weight on him, compressing his chest against the pavement. From the start, the Pantaleo investigation sharply divided the Justice Department.
The officers had been ordered to arrest him for selling untaxed cigarettes, and he resisted them. A medical examiner testified at the disciplinary hearing that the pressure on Mr. Garner’s neck and chest set in motion a fatal asthma attack. Eric H. Holder Jr., Mr. Obama’s attorney general at the time of the incident, said that evidence strongly suggested the federal government should bring charges against Officer Pantaleo, even though it was notoriously hard to prosecute police officers for deaths in custody.
Mr. Donoghue said prosecutors did a rigorous analysis of the video and other evidence, but in the end they did not believe they had sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Pantaleo committed a crime.
To prove criminal conduct, he said, the government had to convince a jury that in the middle of a dynamic arrest Officer Pantaleo willfully made a clear decision in his mind to apply a chokehold, a burden prosecutors did not believe they could meet.
None of the New York officers involved in Mr. Garner’s death have been charged with a crime or disciplined by the Police Department, a fact that has enraged the Garner family and various advocacy groups devoted to holding the police accountable for abuses of power.
Mr. Garner’s family members — including his mother, Gwen Carr — met with federal prosecutors and the Rev. Al Sharpton on Tuesday morning.
The state grand jury declined to bring charges against Officer Pantaleo in December 2014, after the police officer testified in his own defense that he did not put Mr. Garner into a chokehold, a maneuver that is prohibited by the New York Police Department, and that he feared that he would be pushed through a storefront window during the struggle.
But a federal investigation into Mr. Garner’s death proceeded, sharply dividing the Justice Department under four attorneys general and two presidents.
The attorney general at the time of the death, Eric H. Holder Jr., said that evidence strongly suggested that the federal government should bring charges against Officer Pantaleo, even though it is notoriously hard to prosecute police officers for deaths in custody and the government might lose.
While career civil rights prosecutors agreed with Mr. Holder, prosecutors under the United States attorney in Brooklyn, Loretta E. Lynch, sharply disagreed. Because Officer Pantaleo had testified that he intended to put Mr. Garner into a takedown hold that would not restrict his breathing, it was not clear whether the dead man’s civil rights had been violated.
Prosecutors in Brooklyn and in Washington also disagreed about whether a passer-by’s cellphone video supported Officer Pantaleo’s account.
After Ms. Lynch succeeded Mr. Holder in April 2015, officials including the head of the civil rights division, Vanita Gupta, worked to convince her that the officers had used excessive force and had likely violated Mr. Garner’s civil rights.
Ms. Lynch allowed the civil rights division to take a lead role in the case, and the following September the department replaced the F.B.I. agents and prosecutors who had been working on the case with a new team from outside of New York.
But the case stalled again after Mr. Trump won the presidential election and appointed Jeff Sessions as his attorney general. Civil rights division prosecutors recommended that charges be brought, and they asked the deputy attorney general at the time, Rod J. Rosenstein, about indicting Officer Pantaleo.
But Mr. Rosenstein did not allow the department to move forward on an indictment, and many officials said they believed that there was a good chance that the government would lose the case should it go to trial.
The last time the federal government brought a deadly force case against a New York police officer was in 1998, when Officer Francis X. Livoti stood trial on — and was eventually convicted of — civil rights charges in the choking death of a Bronx man named Anthony Baez.The last time the federal government brought a deadly force case against a New York police officer was in 1998, when Officer Francis X. Livoti stood trial on — and was eventually convicted of — civil rights charges in the choking death of a Bronx man named Anthony Baez.
Federal prosecutors signaled they were still interested in the case as recently as June, when Elizabeth Geddes, the head of the civil rights unit that covers Staten Island, appeared at the disciplinary hearing for Officer Pantaleo. She left the proceedings at Police Headquarters in Lower Manhattan after it became clear that Officer Pantaleo would not testify. But the prosecutors in the United States attorney’s office in Brooklyn, led by Loretta E. Lynch, did not believe they could win in court and balked at bringing charges.
At the hearing, Officer Pantaleo faced charges of recklessly using a chokehold on Mr. Garner and intentionally restricting his breathing. Prosecutors from the Civilian Complaint Review Board, a police oversight agency, argued that he should be fired; his attorney, Stuart London, maintained that the officer did nothing wrong, but used a technique taught in the Police Academy known as the seatbelt maneuver, not a chokehold. Once Ms. Lynch succeeded Mr. Holder in April 2015, however, officials in the civil rights division convinced her that the officers had likely violated Mr. Garner’s civil rights.
Ashley Southall contributed reporting. Ms. Lynch allowed the civil rights division to take a lead role in the case, and the following September the department replaced the F.B.I. agents and prosecutors who had been working on the case with a new team from outside of New York.
The two sides disagreed over whether the widely published video of Mr. Garner’s arrest proved that Officer Pantaleo had acted wrongfully. Prosecutors in Washington D.C. accused their colleagues in Brooklyn of mishandling the investigation.
The case stalled again after Mr. Trump won the presidential election and appointed Jeff Sessions as his attorney general. Civil rights division prosecutors recommended to the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, that charges be brought, but he declined to move forward.
As the Russia investigation engulfed the Department and Mr. Sessions was fired, the case languished until Mr. Barr took it up.
To the bitter end, prosecutors on both sides of the case lobbied Mr. Barr in a series of briefings; and Mr. Barr reviewed the video multiple times, officials said.
But it remains unclear if prosecutors interviewed Mr. Pantaleo, which would have helped establish his state of mind and intent when he put Mr. Garner into a hold. When asked whether prosecutors had interviewed the officer, a Justice Department official would only say that the department had access to “statements relevant to that analysis.”
Mr. Barr, in the end, sided with prosecutors in New York.
But it is ultimately up to Commissioner James P. O’Neill, the final arbiter of police discipline, to decide whether to fire Officer Pantaleo or punish him in some other way.
However, the commissioner will not make a formal decision until the police administrative judge who oversaw a disciplinary trial that ended in June renders her verdict, a spokesman for the department, Philip T. Walzak, said in a statement.
Officer Pantaleo, 34, has been on desk duty without a shield or a gun since Mr. Garner died, a status that has allowed him to accrue pay and pension benefits.
Senator Kirstin Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, called the Justice Department’s decision an “outrage” and said the Police Department “must make their departmental findings fully transparent to the public and take immediate actions to ensure this officer is no longer on the force.”
Mr. Garner, who was 43, died on a Staten Island sidewalk on July 17, 2014, after Officer Pantaleo wrapped an arm around his neck from behind and took him to the ground. Other officers put their weight on him, compressing his chest against the pavement.
The officers had been ordered to arrest him for selling untaxed cigarettes, and he had resisted. A medical examiner testified at the disciplinary hearing that the pressure on Mr. Garner’s neck and chest set in motion a fatal asthma attack.
Federal prosecutors did a “rigorous analysis” of the event, but in the end they did not believe they had enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Pantaleo committed a crime, a senior Justice Department official said on Tuesday, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he had not been authorized to speak on the record.
To prove criminal conduct, the official said, the government had to convince a jury that in the middle of a dynamic arrest Officer Pantaleo made a clear decision to apply a chokehold, which the Police Department had banned more than two decades ago. It was a burden that prosecutors did not believe they could meet, the official said.
None of the New York officers involved in Mr. Garner’s death have been charged with a crime or disciplined by the Police Department. That fact has enraged the Garner family and various advocacy groups devoted to holding the police accountable for abuses of power.
The state grand jury declined to bring charges against Officer Pantaleo in December 2014, after he testified in his own defense that he did not put Mr. Garner into a chokehold, and that he had feared he would be pushed through a storefront window during the struggle.
The Justice Department said Tuesday that it weighed four elements in deciding whether to charge Officer Pantaleo, including whether he used unreasonable force, whether he willfully violated the law, whether he acted in his official capacity as a law enforcement professional and whether the other person was injured.
Mr. Donoghue said prosecutors did not believe they could prove he had intentionally used unreasonable force. Even if they could prove the officer had used force that was “objectively unreasonable,” the government would still have to show officer did so “willfully,” a very high level of intent.
The Brooklyn prosecutors who studied the video of the incident concluded that Officer Pantaleo did not initially intend to apply a chokehold, and that he eventually did so for 7 seconds after the two men crashed to the ground, Mr. Donoghue said.
Mr. Donoghue also said that Officer Pantaleo had released Mr. Garner from the chokehold before the dying man said “I can’t breathe,” and neither Officer Pantaleo nor the other officers subduing him applied a chokehold after that point. In the end, he said, the video “does not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Pantaleo acted willfully.”
Ashley Southall, William K. Rashbaum, John Surico and Derek Norman contributed reporting.