Police officer in ‘I can’t breathe’ death won’t be charged

FILE – In this undated family file photo provided by the National Action Network, Eric Garner, right, poses with his children during a family outing. Federal prosecutors won’t bring civil rights charges against New York City police officer Daniel Pantaleo in the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday, July 16, 2019. The decision not to bring charges against Pantaleo comes a day before the statute of limitations was set to expire, on the fifth anniversary of the encounter that led to Garner’s death. (AP Photo/Family photo via National Action Network, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors said Tuesday that they won’t bring criminal charges against a white New York City police officer in the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner, a black man whose dying words — “I can’t breathe” — became a rallying cry as the nation confronted a long history of police brutality.

The decision to end a yearslong civil rights investigation without charges was made by Attorney General William Barr and was announced the day before the five-year anniversary of the deadly encounter, just as the statute of limitations was set to expire.

Civil rights prosecutors in Washington had favored filing criminal charges against Officer Daniel Pantaleo, but ultimately Barr sided instead with other federal prosecutors based in Brooklyn who said the evidence wasn’t sufficient to make a case, a Justice Department official told The Associated Press.

U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue, of the Eastern District of New York, said in a news conference that while the death was tragic, there was insufficient evidence to prove that Pantaleo or any other officers willfully violated Garner’s civil rights.

“Even if we could prove that Officer Pantaleo’s hold of Mr. Garner constituted unreasonable force, we would still have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Pantaleo acted willfully in violation of the law,” Donoghue said.

Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, and the Rev. Al Sharpton said they were outraged and heartbroken. Sharpton called for the NYPD to fire Pantaleo, who’s been on desk duty since Garner’s death and is awaiting the results of a disciplinary hearing that could lead to termination.

“We are here with heavy hearts, because the DOJ has failed us,” said Carr, who has become a vocal advocate of police reform in the years since her son’s death. “Five years ago, my son said “I can’t breathe” 11 times. Today, we can’t breathe.”

By MICHAEL BALSAMO, MICHAEL R. SISAK, COLLEEN LONG and TOM HAYS