NYPD fires officer for death of Eric Garner

Daniel Pantaleo avoided civil rights charges last month in the death of an unarmed African American man, but on Monday he lost his job as a police officer. New York City Police Commissioner James O’Neill fired Pantaleo, who is white, for his role in the death of Eric Garner in 2014. O’Neill said he based his decision on a recent recommendation of an NYPD disciplinary judge. “None of us can take back our decisions,” O’Neill said, “especially when they lead to the death of another human being.”

What did Pantaleo do? On July 17, 2014, Garner resisted arrest on charges of illicit tobacco sales. Pantaleo took Garner down with a chokehold, a move banned by NYPD policy. Garner lost consciousness and later died. Pantaleo claimed he used a takedown move called the “seatbelt,” but a medical examiner said a chokehold contributed to Garner’s death.

Dig deeper: Read Emily Belz’s reporting from WORLD’s archives on the protests in New York following Garner’s death.