New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio beat back repeated calls Wednesday for him to fire the police officer accused of using a fatal chokehold on Eric Garner five years ago, saying he was obligated to keep his opinions to himself until police department disciplinary proceedings are complete.
The Democrat, who is running for president partly on his record of police reform, said he felt it was an injustice of the highest order, that the U.S. Justice Department investigated Garners death for nearly five years before announcing Tuesday that no civil rights charges would be filed.
But de Blasio would not say whether he believes whether the officer involved in the death, Daniel Pantaleo, should lose his job.
Im not going to venture personal opinions, de Blasio said. When youre the steward of the entire city this is not about personal opinions.
Protesters marked the anniversary of Garners death, five years ago Wednesday, with a demonstration in downtown Manhattan that drew several hundred people.
Carrying signs saying, I cant breathe, a reference to Garners dying words, they chanted and marched past federal courthouses toward the Brooklyn Bridge.
Garners family members called for Pantaleo to be fired, as did several of the elected officials seeking to succeed de Blasio as mayor.
Weve been failed by every other source, Garners mother, Gwen Carr, said Wednesday on CBS. He should be fired. At least that would give me closure.
City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said Tuesday that Pantaleo should have been fired months ago, if not years ago. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said: You cannot be president, you cannot be the Democratic nominee, if Daniel Pantaleo is still on the force.
But De Blasio said repeatedly that Pantaleo is entitled to due process. There is a law that determines first everyone gets due process, he said in an interview on radio station Hot 97. You would want it. I would want it. Everyone gets it.
Radio host Ebro Darden countered: You know, look, we get along, but I do have an expectation that youre going to fire this officer. Ill be honest with you. Ill be seriously disappointed if that doesnt happen.
But de Blasio insisted, We are following the law.
Asked at the news conference if he should be expected to at least have an opinion on a matter that has roiled the nation, de Blasio said that being a leader takes a lot of restraint, and being a leader takes a lot of patience, and Ive learned that certainly on this job many times.
Pantaleo, who is white, placed Garner, who is black, in what prosecutors said was effectively a chokehold after Garner refused to be handcuffed during an arrest over the selling of loose, untaxed cigarettes.
Chokeholds are banned under police policy. Pantaleo maintained he used a legal takedown maneuver called the seat belt.
The decision to end the investigation was made by Attorney General William Barr and was announced just as the statute of limitations for bringing charges was set to expire. Federal prosecutors said they didnt have evidence that Pantaleo had willfully violated Garners civil rights.
De Blasio blamed the long delay in starting NYPD disciplinary proceedings against Pantaleo on the Justice Department, saying it had asked the city to delay while the federal investigation was ongoing.
I regret that I trusted the United States Department of Justice, I really do, de Blasio told reporters at a news conference. I grew up watching the Department of Justice act as the protector of civil rights and civil liberties and taking on racist policies, taking on state governments and local governments that were treating people unfairly and I always believed no matter how strange the politics were in our country that the Justice Department would keep to that standard.
De Blasio said the decision whether to fire Pantaleo is up to Police Commissioner James ONeill, who will decide by Aug. 31 after he receives a report from the administrative judge overseeing Pantaleos departmental hearing. Potential punishment ranges from loss of vacation days to termination.
Pantaleos lawyer, Stuart London, said Tuesday that the officer is gratified that the Justice Department took the time to carefully review the actual evidence in this case rather than the lies and inaccuracies which followed this case from its inception.
In the years since Garners death, the NYPD has made sweeping changes on how it relates to the communities it serves, ditching a policy of putting rookie officers in higher-crime precincts in favor of a neighborhood policing model that revolves around community officers tasked with getting to know New Yorkers.
De Blasio, who launched his long-shot presidential campaign in May, has boasted on the campaign train of his record in improving police-community relations.
He said Wednesday that systemic change in the police department lessens the likelihood of another death like Garners ever taking place in the city.
I believe weve taken the kind of steps to avoid such a tragedy, de Blasio said. Thats what a leader has to do.
(AP)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
3 Responses
Thereby depriving the officer of the opportunity to sue for discrimination and get a big payout from the deep pocketed city.
If this helps trash the bits of popularity this mayor has left, then this is all for the good. he has been one of the worst mayors NYC has had, and every bit of disgrace he gets is earned.
There is a reality piece here that the black community refuses to accept. Even if the officer committed a serious injustice, it may not have been a civil rights offense. he was being apprehended because he was a career criminal, and was involved in an offense at the time. No one can claim the arrest was not legit. But the black community is obsessed that anything involving them that is unpleasant must be blamed on someone discriminating against them because of their race. That might happen, although undeniably much less often than a half century ago. That would need to be proven here, and Barr felt that it could not be. NOT EVERY INJUSTICE IS A RACIAL ISSUE. The death of Garner is a state issue, not Federal. All the protests and signs won’t change that. Nor will the mayor, the media, nor the spewings of the Squad.
to knows little: Garner was being apprehended because he was selling loose or untaxed cigarettes. Deadly force is, to understate the obvious, not appropriate or necessary. And Mr. Garner did not look like he could outrun the cops if he wanted to.
And, FYI, lots of bochurim in Israel buy duty-free cigarettes at airports and illegally take them into Israel and sell them to their fellow bochurs at yeshivas. What would you say if Israeli police did to a bochur what an NYPD cop did to Mr. Garner.