![On Aug. 23, 2014, the March for Justice was held...]()
Stephanie Keith For The New York Daily News
On Aug. 23, 2014, the March for Justice was held in Staten Island in reaction to Eric Garner's death. Here, the Rev. Al Sharpton leads the march among fellow activists donning banners and signs.
![Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, participates in a...]()
Spencer Platt / Getty Images
Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, participates in a protest on July 17, 2019, in New York, to mark the fifth anniversary of the death of Garner during a confrontation with a police officer in the borough of Staten Island. It was announced yesterday that federal prosecutors will not charge NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Garner, who repeated the phrase "I can't breathe" almost a dozen times while being arrested for an alleged misdemeanor.
![Protesters lie in the intersection in front of Gracie Mansion...]()
Sam Costanza for New York Daily News
Protesters lie in the intersection in front of Gracie Mansion on East End Ave. and E. 89th St. on July 18, 2019, in Manhattan during the second day of protests after the decision on July 16, 2019, by federal prosecutors not to charge NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the chokehold death of Eric Garner. Garner's mother, Gwen Carr, is calling on Police Commissioner James O'Neill to fire Pantaleo.
![Emerald Garner (c.) addresses the crowd at the National Action...]()
Gregg Vigliotti / New York Daily News
Emerald Garner (c.) addresses the crowd at the National Action Network press conference in Harlem on August 2, 2019 following calls for Daniel Pantaleo's firing.
![Rev. Al Sharpton speaks during a news conference at the...]()
Seth Wenig/AP
Rev. Al Sharpton speaks during a news conference at the National Action Network headquarters in New York on Dec. 4, 2014. National Urban League President Marc Morial calls the lack of an indictment in the Eric Garner case "a travesty of justice." Sharpton said that a civil rights summit will be held following a Dec. 13 march in Washington.
![Protesters outside of NYPD headquarters on July 23, 2019, in...]()
Danielle Hyams / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Protesters outside of NYPD headquarters on July 23, 2019, in Manhattan are calling for the firing of Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who put Garner in a fatal chokehold while arresting him.
![Eric Garner's daughter, Emerald Snipes, led a protest outside of...]()
Danielle Hyams / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Eric Garner's daughter, Emerald Snipes, led a protest outside of NYPD headquarters on July 23, 2019, in Manhattan. Protestors are calling for the firing of Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who put Garner in a fatal chokehold while arresting him.
![Erica Garner, Garner's daughter, had made it her mission to...]()
Michael Schwartz For New York Daily News
Erica Garner, Garner's daughter, had made it her mission to speak out against police brutality in the wake of her father's death, scheduling a "die-in" on the street where he was killed and criticizing New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio for not giving her records on her father's murderer, police officer Daniel Pantaleo. She suffered a massive heart attack on Dec. 30, 2017 and died at the age of 27.
![Benjamin Carr, Eric Garner's stepfather, pictured on Bay St. after a...]()
Joe Marino/New York Daily News
Benjamin Carr, Eric Garner's stepfather, pictured on Bay St. after a Staten Island Grand Jury chose not to hand down a bill of indictment for New York City cop Daniel Pantaleo in the choking death of Garner.
![A few days after the incident, a makeshift memorial to...]()
Debbie Egan-ChinNew York Daily News
A few days after the incident, a makeshift memorial to Eric Garner was erected at the scene. People left everything from posters to candles to commemorate the death of Garner.
![Reverend Al Sharpton addressed the media at the NAN Headquarters on...]()
Theodore Parisienne for New York Daily News
Reverend Al Sharpton addressed the media at the NAN Headquarters on West 145th St. in the wake of Daniel Pantaleo being fired from the NYPD in Manhattan on Monday, Aug. 19, 2019.
![NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo is seen waving to officers assigned...]()
Jeff Bachner for New York Daily News
NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo is seen waving to officers assigned to protect him as he leaves his Staten Island home on Thursday, July 2, 2015. Pantaleo stands trial for choking an unarmed Garner to death in 2014 as the man cried "I can't breathe."
![Jumaane Williams, New York City Public Advocate, is in the...]()
Sam Costanza for New York Daily News
Jumaane Williams, New York City Public Advocate, is in the melee between police and protesters clash in front of Gracie Mansion on July 18, 2019, in Manhattan during the second day of protests after the decision on July 16, 2019, by federal prosecutors not to charge NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the chokehold death of Eric Garner. Several protesters were arrested.
![On August 2, 2014, the city medical examiner office officially...]()
New York Daily News
On August 2, 2014, the city medical examiner office officially ruled Eric Garner's death a homicide, as seen on the front page of the New York Daily News. The document revealed that his death was the result of "compression of neck (chokehold), compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police."
![New York City Police Commissioner James O'Neill announced his decision...]()
Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Daily News
New York City Police Commissioner James O'Neill announced his decision to fire NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo, accused of using an illegal chokehold that led to the death of Eric Garner, during a press conferece on Aug. 19, 2019. The Commissioner said: "The unintended consequences of Eric Garner's death must have consequences of its own, it is clear that Daniel Pantaleo can no longer effectively serve as a New York City police officer."
![Esaw Garner, widow of Eric Garner, photographed in her Manhattan...]()
Susan Watts/New York Daily News
Esaw Garner, widow of Eric Garner, photographed in her Manhattan home on July 1, 2015 in the wake of her husband's death.
![The "Eric Garner Way" street sign is pictured after a...]()
Barry Williams for New York Daily News
The "Eric Garner Way" street sign is pictured after a renaming ceremony for Eric Garner at Bay St. and Victory Blvd. on Saturday, July 16, 2022, in Staten Island, New York. A portion of Bay St. was renamed Eric Garner Way.
![Erica Garner, Eric's daughter, went on to become an anti-police...]()
Andrew Burton/Getty Images
Erica Garner, Eric's daughter, went on to become an anti-police violence activist before the stress and weight of it took its toll on her. She died of a massive heart attack in 2017, over three years after her father's death.
![Eric Garner protesters try to block the subway station in...]()
Stephanie Keith for The New York Daily News
Eric Garner protesters try to block the subway station in front of the turnstiles leading to a major scuffle with the police resulting in one arrest at Barclay's Center in Brooklyn on Dec. 8, 2014.
![On July 31, 2014, The Rev. Al Sharpton (2nd r.)...]()
Bob Bennett/AP
On July 31, 2014, The Rev. Al Sharpton (2nd r.) joined Mayor Bill de Blasio (2nd l.) during a roundtable discussion to ease tension over the police-involved death of Eric Garner. They were also joined by New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton (l.) and New York City Council member Debi Rose (r.).
![People participate in a protest on July 17, 2019, in...]()
Spencer Platt / Getty Images
People participate in a protest on July 17, 2019, in New York, to mark the fifth anniversary of the death of Garner during a confrontation with a police officer in the borough of Staten Island. It was announced yesterday that federal prosecutors will not charge NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Garner, who repeated the phrase "I can't breathe" almost a dozen times while being arrested for an alleged misdemeanor.
![U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District Richard P. Donoghue speaks...]()
Jesse Ward / New York Daily News
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District Richard P. Donoghue speaks to the press about the US Attorney's Office decision not to prosecute officer Daniel Pantaleo for the death of Eric Garner during an arrest in Staten Island five years ago.
![The following day, the front page of the New York...]()
New York Daily News
The following day, the front page of the New York Daily News was all about the grand jury not indicting the cop that killed Eric Garner with the headline: "We Can't Breathe."
![Demonstrators march on 34th St. near the Empire State Building...]()
James Keivom/New York Daily News
Demonstrators march on 34th St. near the Empire State Building to protest a Staten Island grand jury's decision not to indict the NYPD officer involved in the chokehold death of Eric Garner on Dec. 9, 2014.
![A police officer stands over activists demanding justice for the...]()
Adrees Latif/Reuters
A police officer stands over activists demanding justice for the death of Eric Garner as they stage a "die-in" during rush hour at Grand Central Terminal in New York on December 3, 2014. Earlier in the day, a New York City grand jury returned no indictment against white police officer Pantaleo who used a chokehold on Garner, an unarmed black man who died as police tried to arrest him for illegally selling cigarettes.
![Mayor Bill De Blasio talks to the press about a...]()
Jesse Ward / New York Daily News
Mayor Bill De Blasio talks to the press about a judge's recommendation that officer Daniel Pantaleo be fired for his illegal and fatal chokehold on Eric Garner in 2014 on August 2, 2019.
![Pat Lynch, President of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association speaks to...]()
Barry Williams for New York Daily News
Pat Lynch, President of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association speaks to the media after NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo was fired Monday, Aug. 19, 2019, in Manhattan, New York.
![On July 17, 2014, Staten Island resident Eric Garner was...]()
New York Daily News
On July 17, 2014, Staten Island resident Eric Garner was approached by police officers on suspicion of selling "loosies" (single cigarettes) outside of a grocery store. When the officers went to arrest Garner, he resisted to an extent where Officer Daniel Pantaleo then put him in a chokehold as seen in this screen grab from the arrest video. After a while of repeatedly saying "I can't breathe," Garner was wrestled to the ground where he would later lose consciousness and die.
![Pat Lynch, president of the NYC Police Benevolent Association, speaks...]()
Drew Angerer / Getty Images
Pat Lynch, president of the NYC Police Benevolent Association, speaks during a press conference at PBA headquarters on August 2, 2019 in New York City, following news of officer Daniel Pantaleo's suggested firing.
![On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner lost his life after...]()
Obtained by Daily News
On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner lost his life after being put in a chokehold by arresting NYPD officers. Take a look back at the events that followed Garner's wrongful death, from protests to memorials. Garner, is pictured, smiling alongside his wife Esaw during happier times.
![Protesters march on E. 89th St. on July 18, 2019,...]()
Sam Costanza for New York Daily News
Protesters march on E. 89th St. on July 18, 2019, in Manhattan during the second day of protests after the decision on July 16, 2019, by federal prosecutors not to charge NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the chokehold death of Eric Garner. Garner's mother, Gwen Carr, cener right, is calling on Police Commissioner James O'Neill to fire Pantaleo.
![Protests also broke out at the scene where Eric Garner...]()
James Keivom/New York Daily News
Protests also broke out at the scene where Eric Garner was killed after the NYPD officer in Garner's chokehold death was not indicted by a Staten Island grand jury on Dec. 3, 2014, in New York, N.Y.
![Police and protesters clash in front of Gracie Mansion on July...]()
Sam Costanza for New York Daily News
Police and protesters clash in front of Gracie Mansion on July 18, 2019, in Manhattan during the second day of protests after the decision on July 16, 2019, by federal prosecutors not to charge NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the chokehold death of Eric Garner. Several protesters were arrested.
![Widow Esaw Garner, wife of Eric Garner, buries her face...]()
Norman Y. Lono for The New York Daily News
Widow Esaw Garner, wife of Eric Garner, buries her face in the arms of her son Eric, a day after city's medical examiner ruled Eric Garner's death a homicide.
![(L-R) Michael Brown Sr., father of shooting victim Michael Brown,...]()
James Keivom/New York Daily News
(L-R) Michael Brown Sr., father of shooting victim Michael Brown, Rev. Al Sharpton, Kimberly Michelle Ballinger, domestic partner of shooting victim Akai Gurley, Lesley McSpadden, Brown's mother, and Esaw Garner, wife of Eric Garner, rear, pray during a news conference at the National Action Network on Nov. 26, 2014 in New York. The families of the three victims are spending their first Thanksgiving without their loved ones after they were killed by police officers.
![National Action Network founder and President Rev. Al Sharpton speaks...]()
TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP/Getty Images
National Action Network founder and President Rev. Al Sharpton speaks to the media alongside Eric Garner's mother Gwen Carr (R) outside the Eastern District of New York on July 16, 2019.
![One hour after arriving at the hospital, Garner was officially...]()
Ken Murray/New York Daily News
One hour after arriving at the hospital, Garner was officially pronounced dead. A cop guards the scene of the Staten Island tragedy, where Eric Garner, a father of six, died after police attempted to arrest him.
![Despite activists' requests to know information, Mayor de Blasio wants...]()
James Keivom/New York Daily News
Despite activists' requests to know information, Mayor de Blasio wants the record to disappear into a black hole of secrecy.
![Lawyer Sanford Rubenstein, former New York City Chief Medical Examiner...]()
Andrew Schwartz For The New York Daily News
Lawyer Sanford Rubenstein, former New York City Chief Medical Examiner Michael M. Baden and lawyer Scott Rynecki (l. to r.) leave after a press conference about autopsy evidence gathered from the late Eric Garner. Baden agreed with city medical examiner's autopsy of Garner.
![The day after the incident, Mayor Bill DeBlasio, center, held...]()
John Roca for The New York Daily News
The day after the incident, Mayor Bill DeBlasio, center, held a press conference with Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, left, and Assistant Chief Robert Boyce at City Hall regarding the death of Eric Garner.
![Eric Garner's mom, Gwen Carr, holds a ceremonial street sign...]()
Barry Williams for New York Daily News
Eric Garner's mom, Gwen Carr, holds a ceremonial street sign at a street renaming ceremony for her son Eric Garner at Bay St. and Victory Blvd. on Saturday, July 16, 2022, in Staten Island, New York.
![Joined by Eric Garner Jr. (l.) and Emerald Garner (r.), daughter...]()
Gregg Vigliotti / New York Daily News
Joined by Eric Garner Jr. (l.) and Emerald Garner (r.), daughter of the late Eric Garner, Rev. Al Sharpton (c.) speaks during a press conference at the National Action Network headquarters in Harlem on August 2, 2019 in New York. Emerald Garner spoke alongside Sharpton and called for the Police Commissioner to fire Pantaleo, who was instead placed on unpaid leave.
![The Attorney for the Garner Family joined Eric Garner's kids...]()
Theodore Parisienne for New York Daily News
The Attorney for the Garner Family joined Eric Garner's kids and Reverand Al Sharpton at a press conference at the NAN Headquarters on West 145th St. in the wake of Daniel Pantaleo being fired from the NYPD in Manhattan on Monday, Aug. 19, 2019.
![People participate in a protest on July 17, 2019, in...]()
Spencer Platt / Getty Images
People participate in a protest on July 17, 2019, in New York, to mark the fifth anniversary of the death of Garner during a confrontation with a police officer in the borough of Staten Island. It was announced yesterday that federal prosecutors will not charge NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Garner, who repeated the phrase "I can't breathe" almost a dozen times while being arrested for an alleged misdemeanor.
![Garner's funeral was held at Bethel Baptist Church in Brooklyn....]()
Theodore Parisienne for New York Daily News Daily News
Garner's funeral was held at Bethel Baptist Church in Brooklyn. The relatives of Eric Garner grieve during his burial at the Rosedale Memorial Park Cemetery in New Jersey.
![Members of the NYC City Council spontaneously demonstrate and lay...]()
Susan Watts/New York Daily News
Members of the NYC City Council spontaneously demonstrate and lay down on the steps of City Hall and block traffic on Broadway to protest the death of Eric Garner on December 8, 2014. (L-R) Deborah Rose (D-S.I.), Julissa Ferreras (D-Queens), Corey Johson (D-Manhattan), Inez Dickens (D-Brooklyn), Jumaane Williams (D-Brooklyn), Ruben Wills (D-Queens), Mathieu Eugene (D-Brooklyn), Inez Barron (D-Brooklyn) and Andy King (D-Bronx). Also with Rafael Espinal (D-Brooklyn), behind Deborah Rose.
![Approximately 500 people gathered to protest the NYPD in a...]()
Angus Mordant for New York Daily News
Approximately 500 people gathered to protest the NYPD in a call for justice for Eric Garner, on Wednesday, July 17, 2019, in New York. The protest marks the fifth anniversary of Garner's death.
![NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill announced Monday, Aug. 19, 2019, that...]()
Eduardo Munoz Alvarez / AP
NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill announced Monday, Aug. 19, 2019, that Daniel Pantaleo, the officer who put an unarmed Eric Garner in a chokehold that led to his death, is fired as a police officer.
![Daniel Pantaleo, the Staten Island cop accused of putting Eric...]()
New York Daily News
Daniel Pantaleo, the Staten Island cop accused of putting Eric Garner in a fatal chokehold.
![A year after Garner's death, people continued to put up...]()
Joe Marino/New York Daily News
A year after Garner's death, people continued to put up memorials to mark the tragic anniversary. A small memorial in front of Bay Beauty Supply sat on the spot where Garner was killed.
![People march in protest against the decision by federal prosecutors...]()
Bebeto Matthews / AP
People march in protest against the decision by federal prosecutors not to bring civil rights charges against NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo for the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner, on Wednesday, July 17, 2019, in New York. The protest marks the fifth anniversary of Garner's death.
![Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks during a press conference on...]()
Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Daily News
Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks during a press conference on Monday, Aug. 19, 2019, at City Hall in New York City. De Blasio addressed the firing of NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo by Commissioner James O'Neill earlier in the day.
![U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District Richard P. Donoghue speaks...]()
Jesse Ward / New York Daily News
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District Richard P. Donoghue speaks to the press about the US Attorney's Office decision not to prosecute officer Daniel Pantaleo for the death of Eric Garner during an arrest in Staten Island five years ago.
![Ramsey Orta, pictured here, was the man that shot video...]()
Ken MurrayNew York Daliy News
Ramsey Orta, pictured here, was the man that shot video of Eric Garner's arrest on July 17, 2014. The infamous video would later be used during the trial of Officer Daniel Pantaleo.
![Emerald Garner, right, and Eric Garner Jr., left, children of...]()
Theodore Parisienne for New York Daily News
Emerald Garner, right, and Eric Garner Jr., left, children of deceased Eric Garner, appear with Reverend Al Sharpton to address the media at the NAN Headquarters on West 145th St. in the wake of Daniel Pantaleo being fired from the NYPD in Manhattan on Monday, Aug. 19, 2019.
![Mayor de Blasio's interpretation of the law to hide the...]()
James Keivom/New York Daily News
Mayor de Blasio's interpretation of the law to hide the records of cops involved in deadly actions is wrong.
![The night of Dec. 4, 2014, demonstrators marched across the...]()
James Keivom/New York Daily News
The night of Dec. 4, 2014, demonstrators marched across the Brooklyn Bridge to protest a Staten Island grand jury's decision not to indict the NYPD officer involved in the chokehold death of Eric Garner.
![Hundreds gathered outside the 120th Precinct on Staten Island to...]()
Debbie Egan-ChinNew York Daily News
Hundreds gathered outside the 120th Precinct on Staten Island to protest following the death of Eric Garner only two days prior. Garner died after he was put in a chokehold while being arrested by NYPD officers.
![Eric Garner's daughter Emerald Snipes (l.) and his mother Gwen...]()
TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP/Getty Images
Eric Garner's daughter Emerald Snipes (l.) and his mother Gwen Carr (r.), along with National Action Network founder and President Rev. Al Sharpton (behind) speak to the press outside the Eastern District of New York on July 16, 2019 following the lack of charges against officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner.
![Gwen Carr, mother of the late Eric Garner, speaks to...]()
Drew Angerer / Getty Images
Gwen Carr, mother of the late Eric Garner, speaks to the press outside the U.S. Attorney's office following a meeting with federal prosecutors on July 16, 2019 in Brooklyn, New York. The U.S. Justice Department announced on Tuesday that they will not bring federal charges against NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner.
![Following news that a New York grand jury would not indict...]()
Marcus Santos/New York Daily News
Following news that a New York grand jury would not indict the Daniel Pantaleo, the police officer who used a fatal chokehold of Garner, protests and "die-ins" took place around the U.S. Pictured are protesters at a "die-in" at Rockefeller Center on the night of the annual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in 2014.
One and only one person is leading the fight to prevent the public from learning the disciplinary history of the police officer who choked Eric Garner to death: Mayor de Blasio.
The mayor says he is bound by state law to conceal Officer Daniel Pantaleo’s record before Garner’s death — and he will surely say that he is similarly barred from revealing any punishment imposed on Pantaleo for the actions that led to Garner’s death.
De Blasio’s description of the law is dead wrong, and, under his authority, city lawyers are waging a fight to impose an unprecedented and destructive level of secrecy on police discipline.
If adopted by the courts, de Blasio’s position would end all public access to any and all information related to punishing cop misconduct.
Again, for critical emphasis, de Blasio’s legal team is not abiding by the law, it is trying to impose an excessive new secrecy rule.
Invoking the Freedom of Information Law, the Legal Aid Society filed suit for access to a summary of Civilian Complaint Review Board records that would show how many substantiated charges Pantaleo had racked up before the Garner case.
Legal Aid also sought records showing what punishment, if any, the board had recommended.
Last July, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Alice Schlesinger concluded the information fell outside a confidentiality provision of state law and should be released. Rather than celebrate a victory for transparency, de Blasio’s lawyers appealed and are awaiting oral arguments.
Choosing secrecy over openness was bad enough. Manufacturing a black-hole legal standard was the work of cover-up artists.
The Civil Rights Law bars release of records used “to evaluate performance toward continued employment or promotion.”
New York’s highest court eased that ill-advised secrecy by a police agency to show that disclosing the information would subject a cop to “time-consuming and perhaps vexatious investigation into irrelevant collateral matters in the context of a civil or criminal action.”
In her ruling, Schlesinger considered both standards and properly concluded, first, that Legal Aid was not seeking a prohibited personnel record and, second, that Pantaleo was unlikely to suffer a severe backlash in that the video of the chokehold had already made him notorious.
Significantly, Schlesinger suggested that a backlash would “more likely” be directed at the NYPD in the event that the department had mishandled complaints against Pantaleo. What are you hiding, Mr. Mayor?
