'I can't breathe': Eric Garner remembered on the 10th anniversary of his chokehold death
It has been 10 years since the chokehold death of Eric Garner at the hands of New York City police officers made โI canโt breatheโ a rallying cry.
Court upholds NYC law banning the types of police restraints that killed George Floyd, Eric Garner
New Yorkโs highest court has upheld a New York City law that forbids police from using chokeholds or compressing a personโs diaphragm during an arrest.
A look at high-profile cases over killings by US police
A suburban Minneapolis police officer who said she confused her handgun for a Taser was led away in handcuffs Thursday after a jury found her guilty of manslaughter in the death of Black motorist Daunte Wright.
![Evidence in Chauvin case contradicted first police statement](https://www.wsls.com/resizer/NTeyU7wwpePMUFX77pDdLkVC_MI=/800x533/smart/filters:format(jpeg):strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/KPI6NL5PNNCV7PFJ3263YBMOIE.jpg)
Evidence in Chauvin case contradicted first police statement
Moments after former officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder in George Floydโs death, copies of the original Minneapolis police statement began recirculating on social media.
![Lawrence Byrne, NYPD's policy-shaping legal czar, dies at 61](https://www.wsls.com/resizer/KzMpLleXjT8lJXaZwXYZh6rD1pk=/1600x1064/smart/filters:format(jpeg):strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/ECQZG3E3LNFFZJW3TRYREH27OI.jpg)
Lawrence Byrne, NYPD's policy-shaping legal czar, dies at 61
Byrne, whose brother was a rookie NYPD officer when he was shot and killed in 1988, died Sunday at a Manhattan hospital after a heart attack Thursday, the police department said. Byrne defended the department in litigation over its spying on Muslims, which was uncovered in reporting by The Associated Press. He interpreted a state secrecy law in a way that shielded the disciplinary records of officers accused of brutality from public view. Bush carried his badge with him while running for the White House, and a major Justice Department grant program is named in his honor. Over the years, Lawrence Byrne and his family have testified before the state parole board, urging it not to release the men who killed his brother.
![Medical experts: Floyd's speech didn't mean he could breathe](https://www.wsls.com/resizer/Pad_bwK1Ap8Z8kwSaDAxhc8KSQE=/1600x1066/smart/filters:format(jpeg):strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65):fill(FFF)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/7RZFCEQBK5HVHOF5K64TSIUHUI.jpg)
Medical experts: Floyd's speech didn't mean he could breathe
Madeline Curry attends a protest with her father outside the Minneapolis 5th Police Precinct while wearing a protective mask that reads "I CAN'T BREATHE", Saturday, May 30, 2020, in Minneapolis. Protests continued following the death of George Floyd, who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on Memorial Day. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
![Medical experts: Floyd's speech didn't mean he could breathe](https://www.wsls.com/resizer/1fbdL0pOgQi0i6UpowsdS66LS-Y=/1600x1066/smart/filters:format(jpeg):strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/7RZFCEQBK5HVHOF5K64TSIUHUI.jpg)
Medical experts: Floyd's speech didn't mean he could breathe
Madeline Curry attends a protest with her father outside the Minneapolis 5th Police Precinct while wearing a protective mask that reads "I CAN'T BREATHE", Saturday, May 30, 2020, in Minneapolis. One told Floyd it takes a lot of oxygen to talk, while another told angry bystanders that Floyd was talking, so he can breathe.That reaction -- seen in police restraint deaths around the country -- is dangerously wrong, medical experts say. In the moments before he died, Floyd told police he couldnt breathe more than 20 times. The volume of an ordinary breath is about 400 to 600 mL, but normal speech requires about 50 mL of gas per syllable, so saying the words I cant breathe would require 150 mL of gas, the authors wrote. But the misperception that a talking person is able to breathe has also come up in other high-profile in-custody deaths.
![Police disciplinary records are largely kept secret in US](https://www.wsls.com/resizer/zVmBtC7OX_m21IY3ZSLikGv6nXc=/1600x1067/smart/filters:format(jpeg):strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/EDETMVSEGBHLNORTDWRYKMS2DQ.jpg)
Police disciplinary records are largely kept secret in US
Daniel Pantaleo, the New York City officer who seized Eric Garner in a deadly chokehold, had eight. Both Democratic and Republican reform bills in Congress would make officers' disciplinary records public and create a national database of allegations a shift in political will that didn't exist just a few years ago. New York legislators this week voted to repeal the law that kept officers' names secret along with specifics about complaints made against them. Chris Dunn, legal director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, rejected the notion, advanced largely by Republicans, that police disciplinary records should be kept private like medical information. Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw and Mayor Jim Kenney pledged this week to publish a detailed quarterly report on complaints against city officers.
![A look at Democrats' sweeping proposals to overhaul policing](https://www.wsls.com/resizer/O4uaMvWRtLjqDPCx2woTRlGq1qc=/1600x1065/smart/filters:format(jpeg):strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/ZEYHK26P2RD7RMY7WNKXKCZVOI.jpg)
A look at Democrats' sweeping proposals to overhaul policing
The law would allow an officer to be charged for acting with reckless disregard for someones life, causing that person's death. The bill would amend federal misconduct statutes to make it easier for courts to find officers personally liable for the violation of civil rights. The proposal would give specific subpoena power to federal civil rights prosecutors to conduct those investigations and would aid state attorneys general with conducting similar investigations. As attorney general in the Obama administration, Eric Holder frequently criticized violent police confrontations and opened a series of civil rights investigations into local law enforcement practices. The civil rights investigations often ended with court-approved consent decrees that mandated reforms.
![Fired officer accused of choking Eric Garner files lawsuit against NYC](https://sharedmedia.grahamdigital.com/photo/2019/05/13/via%20CNN%20NYPD%20Officer%20Daniel%20Pantaleo_1557805054892.jpg.jpg.jpg_21849328_ver1.0_1280_720.jpg)
Fired officer accused of choking Eric Garner files lawsuit against NYC
NYPD Officer Daniel Panaleo is accused in the choking death of Eric Garner. NEW YORK - Former New York Police Department officer Daniel Pantaleo is suing New York City over his termination related to the 2014 death of Eric Garner, Pantaleo's attorney told CNN. The former officer was fired in August after being found guilty in a disciplinary trial of using a chokehold on Garner. As Pantaleo forces Garner's head into the sidewalk, Garner could be heard saying "I can't breathe. Despite the disciplinary trial, Pantaleo has avoided criminal charges in the death.
![NYPD commissioner won't resign after union resolutions of no confidence](https://sharedmedia.grahamdigital.com/photo/2016/09/18/James%20O%27Neill%2C%20NY%20police%20commissioner.jpg_22226804_ver1.0_1280_720.jpg)
NYPD commissioner won't resign after union resolutions of no confidence
Spencer Platt/Getty Images(CNN) - New York Police Commissioner James O'Neill says he won't resign despite pressure from the Police Benevolent Association union stemming partly from the firing of an officer involved in a 2014 fatal arrest. Earlier this week, the PBA unanimously approved resolutions of no confidence in both O'Neill and Mayor Bill de Blasio. The union's 27-member delegate assembly released the resolutions on Wednesday, calling for O'Neill's resignation and asking Gov. PBA spokesman Albert O'Leary told CNN this is not the first time the union has issued a resolution of no confidence. He said the last one was against former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly in 2004.
![Officer accused of choking Eric Garner is fired](https://sharedmedia.grahamdigital.com/photo/2019/05/13/via%20CNN%20NYPD%20Officer%20Daniel%20Pantaleo_1557805054892.jpg.jpg.jpg_21849328_ver1.0_1280_720.jpg)
Officer accused of choking Eric Garner is fired
(CNN) - The New York police officer accused of fatally choking Eric Garner in 2014 has been fired and will not receive his NYPD pension, Commissioner James O'Neill said Monday. "It is clear that Daniel Pantaleo can no longer effectively serve as a New York City Police officer," he said. As Pantaleo forces Garner's head into the sidewalk, Garner could be heard saying "I can't breathe. Garner's death, three weeks before the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, started the resurgence of police accountability and brought the Black Lives Matter movement to the forefront, Rev. "For over five years, the Garner family and communities across the country have waited for justice in the death of Eric Garner," New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
![NYPD judge recommends officer accused in Eric Garner case be fired](https://sharedmedia.grahamdigital.com/photo/2019/05/13/via%20CNN%20NYPD%20Officer%20Daniel%20Pantaleo_1557805054892.jpg.jpg.jpg_21849328_ver1.0_1280_720.jpg)
NYPD judge recommends officer accused in Eric Garner case be fired
Cleared in a criminal trial, NYPD Officer Daniel Panaleo now faces an internal trial on tactics he used in the death of Eric Garner. A key question in the case remains whether Pantaleo used a chokehold, which is banned by the NYPD, against Garner. The officer denies he used the maneuver and has been on desk duty since Garner's death. "All of New York City understandably seeks closure to this difficult chapter in our City's history," Walzak said in a statement, declining further comment. Federal investigators began examining the circumstances of Garner's death in 2014, after a grand jury in New York declined to indict the Staten Island officer.
![Officer accused in Eric Garner death could learn fate this week](https://sharedmedia.grahamdigital.com/photo/2019/05/13/via%20CNN%20NYPD%20Officer%20Daniel%20Pantaleo_1557805054892.jpg.jpg.jpg_21849328_ver1.0_1280_720.jpg)
Officer accused in Eric Garner death could learn fate this week
Cleared in a criminal trial, NYPD Officer Daniel Panaleo now faces an internal trial on tactics he used in the death of Eric Garner. The crux of the case remains whether Pantaleo used a chokehold, which is banned by the NYPD; the officer denies he used the move. Activists and lawyers for the Civilian Complaint Review Board call the maneuver Pantaleo used on Garner an illegal chokehold. Garner's death brought the Black Lives Matter movement to the forefront in New York, with protesters marching in the streets. Five years later, Garner's death remains a fervent topic locally and on the national stage.
![Protesters want justice for Eric Garner](https://sharedmedia.grahamdigital.com/photo/2018/07/21/Eric%20Garner.jpg_22110704_ver1.0_1280_720.jpg)
Protesters want justice for Eric Garner
Eric Garner died in 2014 after police attempted to arrest the 43-year-old father of six for allegedly selling cigarettes illegally in Staten Island. (CNN) - Protesters rallied in New York Wednesday on the anniversary of the death of Eric Garner, an African American father who died after officers tried to apprehend him five years ago. Protesters demanded justice for Garner's death and called for Pantaleo and other officers to be fired, directing anger at New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. In a cell phone video, Pantaleo appeared to have Garner in a chokehold shortly before Garner died. The city's medical examiner's office ruled Garner's death a homicide in the days after his death.
![Sources: No federal charges for officer in Eric Garner's death](https://sharedmedia.grahamdigital.com/photo/2019/07/16/DO%20NOT%20REUSE%20Eric%20Garner%2C%20police%20officers.JPG_22106752_ver1.0_1280_720.jpg)
Sources: No federal charges for officer in Eric Garner's death
It's been five years since Eric Garner's death triggered protests across the country after a cell phone video of his last moments in police custody went viral. The Department of Justice has not officially made a decision on whether Pantaleo will be charged with a federal crime, and the deadline to make that call is Wednesday -- the five-year anniversary of Garner's death. Federal investigators have been examining the circumstances of Garner's death since 2014, after a grand jury in New York declined to indict the Staten Island officer. Marchers yelled the phrase as they took to the streets in New York in protest of Garner's death. They blame Garner's death on his poor health.