The Justice Department has reportedly replaced the team of agents and lawyers investigating the death of Eric Garner at the hands of an NYPD police officer in a major shakeup that could portend federal charges.
The “highly unusual” move by the Justice Department replaced FBI agents investigating the case with agents from outside New York, The New York Times said Monday.
The federal prosecutors assigned to the case have been called off, the paper said, meaning it wasn’t clear whether a civil- rights prosecutor would present evidence to a grand jury in Brooklyn, or ultimately try the case against Officer Daniel Pantaleo if charges are filed.
Garner’s death took place on a Staten Island sidewalk in July of 2014 when Pantaleo and other officers responded to a fight at the troubled corner blocks from the St. George Ferry Terminal.
Police accused Garner of selling loose cigarettes and attempted to place him under arrest.
When Garner resisted arrest, Pantaleo tackled him to the ground and choked him to death in what the Medical Examiner’s Office later determined was a homicide.
Pantaleo was cleared by a Staten Island grand jury but a federal investigation into whether he violated Garner’s civil rights has been ongoing for some time.
Pantaleo, meanwhile, has been stripped of his badge and gun while receiving a substantial amount of overtime pay.
Garner’s death was caught on videotape and the man could be heard pleading with Pantaleo that “I can’t breathe” as the officer struggled with him on the ground.
The police-involved killing was followed by the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.
That death set off nationwide demonstrations as video evidence of police killing unarmed black men continued to leak into the public discourse.
