New York cop who put Eric Garner in a lethal chokehold loses his bid to get his job back after state appeals court upholds decision to fire him
A state appeals court has upheld the New York Police Department's decision to fire the cop who put Eric Garner in a lethal chokehold in 2014.
Daniel Pantaleo acted 'recklessly' by holding the black man in a prohibited chokehold for 9 to 10 seconds as he repeatedly said 'I can't breathe', a five-judge panel of the state Supreme Court's Appellate Division ruled.
The judges agreed that the NYPD's decision to fire him in 2019 was an appropriate outcome.
Pantaleo went to court seeking to be reinstated. His lawyer argued that termination was an excessive punishment and that was 'shocking to one's sense of fairness.'
But the appellate panel rejected that, saying there was 'substantial evidence' to support the conclusion that Pantaleo 'recklessly caused injury to Eric Garner by maintaining a prohibited chokehold for 9 to 10 seconds after exigent circumstances were no longer present, thereby disregarding the risk of injury.'
Daniel Pantaleo was fired from NYPD over the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner. He went to court seeking to be reinstated, his lawyer saying his termination was an excessive punishment
Garner was arrested in July 2014 for selling loose, untaxed cigarettes in the NYPD district of Staten Island.
Officers, including Pantaleo, wrestled with Garner against a glass storefront window in Staten Island.
Pantaleo placed his arm around Garner's neck with other officers pinning him to the ground.
Bystander video showed Garner gasping the words 'I can't breathe.'
After the death of George Floyd those words became a rallying cry among police reform activists everywhere.
Officers, including Pantaleo, wrestled with Garner against a glass storefront window in Staten Island after accusing him of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes
Following Garner's death in July 2014, a Richmond County grand jury made the decision not to indict Pantaleo.
However, NYPD stripped Pantaleo of his gun and put him on desk duty, where he continued to earn a salary with his pay peaking at more than $120,000 in 2017, city records show.
He was fired by Commissioner James P. O’Neill in August 2019 - five years after Garner's death.
The NYPD held off on starting its internal disciplinary process for several years, with officials saying they did not want to interfere with a federal civil rights investigation that ultimately yielded no charges.
However, the head of the city's police watchdog agency, the Civilian Complaint Review board, commended the appeals court for upholding Pantaleo's firing.
'Daniel Pantaleo should never be able to patrol New York City streets again, and now New Yorkers can rest assured that he won't,' CCRB chairperson Fred Davie said.
Messages seeking comment were left with Pantaleo's lawyer and with a spokesperson for the NYPD.
Eric Garner was the father of six children and had three grandchildren at the time of his death in 2014
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