Grand Jury Decides NOT to Indict Officer Responsible for Chokehold Death of Eric Garner [Video]

Staten Island, NY police have elected to NOT indict the officer responsible for the death of Eric Garner earlier this year.

via The NYT:

The decision was reached on Wednesday after months of testimony including from the officer, Daniel Pantaleo, who used a chokehold to restrain Mr. Garner, who died after a confrontation. It came less than two weeks after a grand jury in Ferguson, Mo., declined to bring charges against a white officer who fatally shot an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown.

For days, the New York City Police Department has been readying for a new round of protests, which began in the city after the Ferguson decision and which were expected to continue and possibly grow if the grand jury declined to bring charges against the officer.

Garner, a 43-year-old father-of-six, was killed back in July when Officer Pantaleo restrained him on the street with a banned chokehold. Police said they approached Garner because he was selling unlicensed cigarettes — better known as loosies — and that he resisted arrest.

The whole incident was caught on tape and the video went viral, leading the Staten Island district attorney and the Civilian Complaint Review Board to launch probes. The medical office later ruled Garner’s death a homicide.

Watch the heartbreaking video of Eric’s arrest below. We’re going to need to do a lot more work as a nation besides simply giving body cameras to law enforcement.