The New York Police Department officer who put Eric Garner in a fatal chokehold in 2014 is set to be charged by the Justice Department.
According to the NY Post, Washington-based federal prosecutors plan to aggressively purse charges against Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who was seen in a video putting Garner in an illegal chokehold.
“It’s going to happen sooner than later,” a source said of an impending indictment. “Washington wants to indict him.”
Earlier this week, federal investigators involved in the Garner case were replaced by their Washington, D.C. counterparts. According to the New York Times, the change happened because of the former’s reluctance to indict Pantaleo.
Garner was a 43-year-old unarmed black male who was put into a chokehold after officers approached him on suspicion of selling untaxed cigarettes in July 2014. Garner’s last words — “I can’t breathe” — became a rallying call for activists protesting his death.
A grand jury declined to indict Pantaleo in December 2013, and the Justice Department subsequently said it would contact an independent investigation. The City of New York also reached an out-of-court settlement with the Garner family for $5.9 million in July 2015.
