For the past seven months, people nationwide have protested relentlessly, held dramatic

demonstrations and debated furiously about the events of one fateful, breathtaking midsummer
afternoon. Eric Garner, a 43-year-old African American man, was choked to death by a member
of the New York Police Department (NYPD) on July 17.
Garner was approached by police officers for allegedly selling loose cigarettes (single
cigarettes from packs) in front of a beauty store in Staten Island, New York. Garner had recently
quit his job as a horticulturist (someone who studies the art and science of plant cultivation) at
New York City Parks and Recreation because his chronic asthma rendered him unable to work.
As an unemployed husband and father of four, Garner is rumored to have sold untaxed
cigarettes numerous times likely in an attempt to provide for his family and avoid New York
Citys cigarette tax rate of $5.85 per pack, the highest cigarette tax in the nation. Garner, at the
time of the incident, was out on bail for selling unlicensed cigarettes, as well as for the minor
crimes of driving without a license and possessing marijuana.
According to a video recorded by Ramsey Orta, Garners friend, at the scene, when
approached by cops, Garner explained that he was not selling cigarettes (merely breaking up a
fight that had happened earlier) and expressed his dismay with police officers continual
harassment of him. Every time you see me, you want to mess with me. Im tired of it, Garner
said at the scene. Everyone standing here will tell you I didnt do nothing. I did not sell
nothingIm minding my business, officer, Im minding my business. Please just leave me
alone.
An officer attempted to take physical hold of Garner, to which he responded: dont touch
me, please. After that, NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo pushed Garners head to the ground and
put him in a chokehold as three other police officers held his body to the sidewalk. Use of the
chokehold by the New York City Police Department has been prohibited since 1993. As Pantaleo
choked Garner said I cant breathe at least 11 times, yet the cops continued to hold him down
and choke him until his unresponsive body lay face down on the sidewalk.
According to NPR, the police officers response to why they continued to restrain Garner
even as he struggled for breath is that they assumed that if he was actually unable to breathe, he
wouldnt have been able to squeak out the words I cant breathe a scientific assumption that,
as the public has noted, police officers are not equipped to make.
Garner lay motionless and unresponsive for several minutes (while police provided no
care to him) before an ambulance arrived. In the ambulance, Garner had a heart attack and he
was pronounced dead in a hospital approximately one hour later. Contributing factors to his

death may have included his bronchial asthma, heart disease, obesity and hypertensive
cardiovascular disease.
On July 19, American Baptist Minister and civil rights activists, Al Sharpton, organized a
peaceful protest in Staten Island, condemning the polices use of the chokehold on Garner and
claiming that there was no justification for it. On July 29, a protest in the form of poetry and
Broadway entertainers performing was held in Times Square.
On Aug. 23, Al Sharpton led a peaceful march with over 2,500 people along Bay Street in
Staten Island, where Garner died. Do not be silent. Do not be complacent. Do not continue to
live with police misconduct and violence as somehow acceptable, Sharpton wrote on
the Huffington Post. Those who came before us sacrificed so that we may have a more just
future. Now we must do the same for the generations that will come after us.
While four EMTs and paramedics who did not respond to the scene in the correct manner
were briefly suspended without pay (according to CBS) and Pantaleo had his badge and service
gun taken away, everyone who reacted to the incident is now back working their normal jobs and
living their normal lives, including Pantaleo. The Garner incident was not Pantaleos first
offense, as he was the subject of two civil rights lawsuits in 2013 in which plaintiffs accused
Pantaleo of falsely arresting and abusing them one of which ended in a $30,000 settlement
from New York City.
In one of the cases, Pantaleo and other officers ordered two black men to strip naked on
the street for a search. Between July and December, a Staten Island grand jury deliberated over
whether to indict Pantaleo so he could be tried for killing Garner. In the meantime, attention to
the Ferguson case in which another Caucasian police officer killed another African American
citizen for jaywalking erupted. On Nov. 24, a grand jury announced their decision to not
indict the police officer for the crime, sparking nationwide outrage and protests surrounding the
issues of police brutality and a racially slanted justice system in the U.S.
The ambiguity about the Ferguson case stemmed from the fact that the events that
transpired on that day were uncertain since there was no photo or video evidence of the event.
The Ferguson case inspired people nationwide to demand that police wear body cameras so
brutality could be documented. Despite the fact that the entirety of the Eric Garner incident was
captured on video by his friend (and eyewitness to the event) Ramsey Orta, video footage was
not enough for a grand jury to find that police brutality needed to go to trial. Around a week after
the Ferguson decision, on Dec. 3, the Staten Island grand jury announced their decision to not
indict Pantaleo, catalyzing a second wave of public outrage.

Immediately following the announcement of the grand jury decision, people in New York City
and San Francisco gathered in protest, demonstrating with die-ins. Protests also occurred in
other areas across the country, including in Chicago, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Minneapolis
and Atlanta. At least 300 people were arrested at the New York City protests on Dec. 4 and 5. On
Dec. 6, 300 protesters marched in Berkeley, California as well. On Dec. 10, 76 protesters were
arrested in London, during a rally seeking to show solidarity with rallies in the U.S.
Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the federal government would continue to
investigate the case. Politicians also reacted to the case, with President Barack Obama deeming
the legal outcome of the case an American problem that speaks to the larger issues of trust
between police and civilians. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called Garners death a
terrible tragedy and urged all parties involved to create a dialogue and find a path to heal the
wounds from decades of mistrust and create a culture in which the police department and the
communities they protect respect each other.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that New York State should consider appointing
a special prosecutor to handle cases of alleged police brutality, telling CNN: We have a
problem. Lets acknowledge it. Even former president George Bush said he found the verdict
hard to understand and very sad.
Professional athletes such as Reggie Bush, LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Deron
Williams reacted to the verdict by wearing the recently popular T-shirts bearing Garners famous
last three words, as I cant breathe became the chant hear round the country. In response to the
I cant breathe movement, an Indiana police officer began selling T-shirts reading Breathe
easy, dont break the law.
In light of public unrest incited by the Garner decision, nearly five months after Garners
death, Daniel Pantaleo decided to issue a statement sending his condolences to Garners family.
Garners widow, Esaw, responded accordingly. Hell no! The time for remorse would have been
when my husband was yelling to breathe, Esaw Garner said in a press conference. I could care
less about his condolences. Hes still working. Hes still getting a paycheck. Hes still feeding his
kids, when my husband is six feet under and Im looking for a way to feed my kids now.