Grand Jury Declines to Indict Officer in Eric Garner Chokehold Death

On December 3, 2014, a Staten Island grand jury declined to indict NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner, who died after Pantaleo placed him in a chokehold during an arrest for selling loose cigarettes on July 17, 2014. Garner's final words — 'I can't breathe,' repeated 11 times — became a protest rallying cry. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. The NYPD's chokehold ban had been in place since 1993. A federal civil rights investigation was opened; the DOJ under Trump declined to charge Pantaleo in 2019. Pantaleo was fired in August 2019 following an NYPD disciplinary trial.