NYC reaches settlement after Garner chokehold case

Last year, Mr. Garner’s relatives, including his widow, Esaw Garner, and with his mother, Gwen Carr, filed a notice of claim – a procedural step that must precede a lawsuit against the city – seeking $75 million in damages.

Eric Garner, 43, a father of six who was suspected of illegally selling cigarettes, was wrestled to the ground by white police officers after resisting arrest on July 17, 2014 in Staten Island.

A scene from the confrontation between Eric Garner and and Officer Daniel Pantaleo. Pantaleo says he used a legal takedown maneuver known as a seatbelt, not a chokehold.

The dramatic encounter was captured on video and Garner’s final words became the rallying cry for a national movement questioning the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of the police around the country. He was pronounced dead in hospital. In January 2015, the grand jury decided not to indict the officer.

“I believe that we have reached an agreement that acknowledges the tragic nature of Mr. Garner’s death while balancing my office’s fiscal responsibility to the city”, Stringer said of the pre-litigation settlement.

Stringer said he agreed to the settlement to save the city money, knowing they would probably have dished out much more than that had it gone to trial, not to mention having to pay city attorneys who would milk the case for all they can.

Garner’s family has claimed that officers from the department’s 120th precinct routinely harassed him, and they filed a claim against the city last October.

While New Yorkers “mourn the death of Eric Garner“, relations between police and community have improved since Garner’s death, de Blasio said Monday. The Rev. Al Sharpton, who has been aiding the Garner family, plans to hold a protest with the kin Saturday outside the USA federal court building in Brooklyn to call on expedited federal investigations in the Garner death.

Before the settlement’s announcement, the NY Daily News reported that Garner’s family had rejected a $5m settlement from the city.

Yet, at least one thing hasn’t changed for the 30-year-old Pantaleo: His desire to keep working as a New York City cop.

De Blasio’s office announced late Monday than the mayor will “will deliver remarks at the Commission of Religious Leaders Interfaith Worship Service in memory of Eric Garner” on Tuesday night at Mt. Sinai United Christian Church on Staten Island.