Justice for Eric Garner

On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner was killed on a Staten Island sidewalk after being placed in an NYPD-banned chokehold by Officer Daniel Pantaleo, during a false and illegal arrest while Eric pleaded "I can't breathe" eleven times. The killing, captured on video, showed many officers who used force in the unlawful arrest and many failed to intervene or provide aid. NYPD officials and officers also attempted to cover up the killing, first claiming that Garner died of a heart attack, illegally leaking sealed records to criminalize Mr. Garner, and lying on official reports. 

In August 2019, after five long years of obstruction and refusal by Mayor Bill de Blasio and the NYPD to take action, and tireless organizing by Gwen Carr, Eric Garner's mother, Ellisha Flagg Garner, Garner's sister, the Garner family, and community organizers, Officer Daniel Pantaleo, was finally fired. His firing followed a CCRB prosecuted disciplinary trial that concluded in June 2019 which found that Officer Pantaleo violated Department procedures such as the decades-long ban on the chokehold maneuver.

In August 2019, Eric Garner's mother, sister, and Ramarley Graham's mother, along with CPR members, announced a petition to the New York Supreme Court. The petition demanded a judicial inquiry into the violations and neglect of duty by Mayor Bill de Blasio, his administration, and others related to the unjust killing of Eric Garner, the cover-up that continues to this day, and the corresponding failure to discipline officers for misconduct in a meaningful or timely manner.

Mayor de Blasio responded to petitioners by filing a motion to dismiss the petition. New York State Supreme Court Judge Joan A. Madden heard arguments in the city's motion to dismiss in August 2020. 

On September 24, 2020, six years after the killing of Eric Garner, Justice  Madden ruled in petitioners’ favor in their request for a judicial inquiry. The judge ruled that a public judicial inquiry into potential violations and neglect of duty by the de Blasio administration, including former NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill, and other top police officials arising from the death of Eric Garner, could proceed.

Unhappy with the court’s decision, the City tried to block the petition by filing a notice of appeal and by attempting to argue that there was an automatic stay to all further proceedings before the Supreme Court while the City’s appeal was pending. In December 2020, Justice Madden rejected the City’s arguments, once again allowing proceedings related to the inquiry to move forward, unless the City won a stay from an appeals court.  

On February 12, 2021, the City filed a motion with the Appellate Division, First Department, the appeals court, seeking to stay the judicial inquiry. On March 23, 2021, the First Department denied this request. The First Department heard the appeal on May 25, 2021, and denied the appeal on July 15, 2021.

Following Justice Madden’s retirement from the bench, Justice Erika M. Edwards was assigned to preside over the case.

In addition to the petition brought under Section 1109, the Gwen Carr, the Justice Committee, and Communities United for Police Reform submitted a Freedom of Information Law request to the NYPD and the Civilian Complaint Review Board relating to Mr. Garner’s arrest and killing, 

In October 2021, the judicial inquiry began in New York State Supreme Court on October 25, 2021, and lasted for approximately two weeks, until November 5, 2021.

During the inquiry, we learned that NYPD Deputy Commissioner Joseph Reznick, who was in charge of the investigation of the killing, did not investigate illegal leaks of Eric Garner’s medical or sealed criminal legal records. Officer Justin Damico lied on official NYPD reports and Lt. Christopher Bannon texted it was “not a big deal” that Eric might be DOA (dead on arrival).

Parties to the petition include Gwen Carr, Ellisha Flagg Garner, Constance Malcolm, mother of Ramarley Graham, Loyda Colon of Justice Committee, Joo-Hyun Kang of Communities United for Police Reform, Monifa Bandele of MomsRising, Kesi Foster of Make the Road, and Mark Winston Griffith of Brooklyn Movement Center. They were represented by Alvin Bragg, Gideon Oliver, and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.

Help uplift the demands of Eric Garner’s family:

  • That ALL NYPD officers and officials who engaged in misconduct related to the killing of Eric Garner be held accountable and fired from the NYPD.
  • For full access to ALL NYPD and CCRB records of the case.

News on Eric Garner

Where Eric Garner died, changes in NYPD policing win little applause

08/22/2019
AP

NEW YORK (AP) — A police cruiser constantly sits a few feet from a small floral memorial to Eric Garner on the Staten Island sidewalk where he spent his dying moments five years ago.

Tompkinsville Park, which police were targeting for patrols when they encountered Garner selling loose, untaxed cigarettes, remains a gathering place for desperate people.

Expletives flew on a recent hot afternoon as park regulars discussed everything from drugs and mental illness to jail conditions and the bail paid so they could sit on a park bench.

Eric Garner’s Family and Police Accountability Advocates Slam Mayor de Blasio for Cover-Up and Failures in Eric Garner case

Gwen Carr, Ellisha Flagg Garner, Communities United for Police Reform & Justice Committee Announce Legal Action Challenging de Blasio & NYPD Violations of Duty Related to Eric Garner, and Announce Filing of First Amendment Demand for Transparency and Related FOIL

More than 5 Years Since Eric Garner Was Killed, Multiple Officers Who Engaged In Misconduct, including False Official Statements, Have Faced No Discipline Or Even Charges from the de Blasio Administration

Eric Garner’s family and advocates are demanding justice and transparency after Mayor Bill de Blasio and the NYPD’s outrageous attempts to skirt accountability. On Tuesday, August 27, 2019, Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner, and Ellisha Flagg Garner, sister of Eric Garner, along with Communities United for Police Reform (CPR), Justice Committee, the New York Law School Racial Justice Project, Gideon Oliver and others announced the filing of a petition to New York Supreme Court demanding a judicial inquiry into the violation and neglect of duty by Mayor Bill de Blasio, NYPD Commissioner O’Neill and others related to the unjust killing of Eric Garner, the cover-up that continues to this day, and the related failure to discipline officers for misconduct in a meaningful or timely manner.

Statement by Gwen Carr, Mother of Eric Garner, After NYPD Cuts Deal With Supervising Officer in Garner Killing

Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, reacts to news that the NYPD cut a deal with Sgt. Kizzy Adonis for her role in Garner’s death. Adonis was charged over three years ago for failing to properly supervise the scene where former Officer Daniel Pantaleo killed Garner.

Following Pantaleo Firing, Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner, and CPR demand firing of all officers who committed misconduct in Garner killing

Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, reacts to the firing of the NYPD officer who unjustly killed her son.

Reform advocates, family members of men and women killed by police demand firing of NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo for 2014 death of Eric Garner

08/14/2019
New York Daily News

A coalition of police reform advocates is demanding the NYPD fire Officer Daniel Pantaleo for the chokehold death of Eric Garner, and that it discipline all the officers involved in the case.

In a Wednesday letter to Mayor de Blasio and Police Commissioner James O’Neill, more than 60 community groups and family members of people killed by police blasted the mayor for “years-long unnecessary delays and obstruction” following Garner’s 2014 death on Staten Island.

Families of Delrawn Small, Eric Garner & National & Local Organizations Slam Mayor de Blasio for Police Accountability Failures and Deliver 61,000 petitions to Mayor de Blasio Demanding Firing of All Officers Responsible for the Killings of Delrawn Small

New York, NY – On Wednesday, August 7 at 12 p.m. EST, the families of Delrawn Small and Eric Garner and civil rights advocates took to City Hall to call on Mayor de Blasio to end the obstruction of accountability for the officers who killed Delrawn Small and Eric Garner.

Gwen Carr, Mother of Eric Garner and Advocates Demand Action Following Reports of Recommendation of Termination of Daniel Pantaleo from the NYPD

Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, reacts to reports that the administrative judge in the disciplinary trial of the NYPD officer who unjustly killed her son recommended that the officer be fired.

Police officer in ‘I can’t breathe’ death won’t be charged

Gwen Carr, mother of chokehold victim Eric Garner, left, speaks outside the U.S. Attorney’s office, in the Brooklyn borough of New York, as Garner’s widow Esaw Snipes listens at right, Tuesday, July 16, 2019.
07/16/2019
AP

NEW YORK — After years of silence, federal prosecutors said Tuesday that they won’t bring criminal charges against a white New York City police officer in the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner, a black man whose dying words — “I can’t breathe” — became a national rallying cry against police brutality.

The decision to end a yearslong civil rights investigation without charges was made by Attorney General William Barr and was announced the day before the five-year anniversary of the deadly Staten Island encounter, just as the statute of limitations was set to expire.

Stop telling us we didn’t see what we saw. A cop choked Eric Garner to death. The District Attorney wouldn’t prosecute him. The Justice Department turned its back. Now the mayor must step up and fire him.

07/16/2019
New York Daily News

The next time Mayor de Blasio jets off to Keokuk, Iowa or Orangeburg, South Carolina, or wherever he goes to try to sell people on the crazy notion that he can be President of the United States, there should be a large screen with video of Eric Garner telling voters that he can’t breathe.

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