In July last year, Eric Garner, 43, was standing by the sidewalk in Staten Island, New York, when he was apprehended by two of New York's finest for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes. Garner was not armed, but one of the officers put a choke hold on him to subdue him. The Medical Examiner concluded that choke hold caused Garner's death, reports the New York Post. Using chokehold is prohibited by the Police Department.
The grand jury decided not to indict the police officer, Daniel Pantaleo. This sparked an outcry and two police officers in Brooklyn were shot by a man who claimed to be avenging the wrongful death of Garner.
Esaw Garner, widow of the victim, and his mother, Gwen Carr, filed a claim against the city for the wrongful death, for $ 75 million in damages. It took almost a year and a battery of lawyers to finally reach a settlement at $59 million a few days shy of the first death anniversary of Garner. The family said that if no settlement would have been reached then, they were going to file a lawsuit against the City of New York. $75 million is one of the biggest settlements ever reached by the city.
The family has also instituted a case against the private hospital where Garner was brought, which failed to give him oxygen even when he was repeatedly saying, 'I can't breathe'. The hospital has also settled with the family for an undisclosed amount.
While this largesse will not bring Garner back to life, it makes a statement on racial discrimination, police brutality and police activities in minority communities. Before there was Garner, there were other victims.
The New York Police Department conducted and finished its own investigation, but has not released statements yet. The family can only hope there would be clarity to the actions of the policemen who were there that day. On Saturday, a day after the first death anniversary of Garner, his family will hold a rally outside the office of the US Attorney for Eastern District of New York to prompt them to file federal cases against the officers who caused the wrongful death.
