Michael Winter
A New York City police
officer's illegal chokehold killed Eric Garner last month, and his death has
been ruled a homicide, the medical examiner announced Friday.
Officer Daniel Pantaleo and
another officer tried to arrest the 6-foot-3, 350-pound father of six for
selling untaxed cigarettes on a Staten Island street July 17. Video shot by a
passerby showed Pantaleo, an eight-year NYPD veteran, grabbing the 43-year-old
Garner around the neck as he and his partner wrestled him to the ground.
The video captured Garner
saying at least eight times, "I can't breathe" as the officers pushed
his face into the ground.
Four emergency workers were
suspended without pay after witnesses reported they did not administer CPR or
oxygen as Garner lay motionless.
Medical examiner spokeswoman
Julie Bolcer said Garner died from "the compression of his chest and prone
positioning during physical restraint by police." Asthma and heart disease
contributed to his death, she said.
The Staten Island district
attorney is investigating, and Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice
Department is "closely monitoring" the probe.
Pantaleo was stripped of his
badge and gun and given desk duty. His partner, who has not been identified,
was reassigned but allowed to keep his gun and badge.
"We all have a
responsibility to work together to heal the wounds from decades of mistrust and
create a culture where the police department and the communities they protect
respect each other-and that's a responsibility that Commissioner Bratton and I
take very seriously," Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement.