The officer responsible for placing Eric Garner in an NYPD-banned chokehold that killed him wants his job back. Daniel Pantaleo is suing the police department as well as Police Commissioner James O’Neill, who fired him in August due to his role in the death of Garner.
NYPD Judge Rosemarie Maldonado recommended to O’Neill that he be fired for using the chokehold and for lying during an interview with internal affairs investigators.
Pantaleo's lawyer, Stuart London, filed the case in Manhattan Civil Court and said the disgraced officer wants his job back as well as his pension.
“Judge Maldonado was incorrect when she indicated that he committed the crime of assault in the third degree. Both of his initial moves were justified, putting him up against the window were justified, and once he was cuffed he was put on his side. It’s a fluid situation as every physical altercation is, and she is dissecting it and she is using tortured logic to come to a decision which is inaccurate,” London told The Daily News.
“I think he was disappointed with the way he was fired. I think he was disappointed he was not allowed to get his pension. He wasn’t given his pension or even a prorated portion of the pension. He doesn’t feel he was fairly treated by the job, by the mayor or by the police department,” London added.
Since being fired, Pantaleo has received rabid support from the New York Sergeants Benevolent Association, which lauded his decision to file the lawsuit and taunted Garner's mother.
He never should of been fired! He was scapegoated by a cowardice police commissioner. The real story as to why officers were making an arrest for loose cigarettes was never told. Shame exist within Police Plaza. Tell Garner’s mother the truth. https://t.co/k6RjpbajH3
— SBA (@SBANYPD) October 24, 2019
Pantaleo's move caused immediate outrage because many New Yorkers and others across the country have been incensed that he was never charged with a crime. Garner's last words, "I can't breathe," became a searing slogan used at protests across the country since his death.
The only person involved in Garner's death who went to prison was Ramsey Orta, the bystander who filmed Pantaleo choking Garner back in 2014.
"Daniel Pantaleo had a fair administrative trial that concluded with an NYPD Judge recommending he be fired immediately. Pantaleo's decision to seek his reinstatement is not only disrespectful to the Police Commissioner and NYPD, but also the Garner family. He has shown no contrition or acknowledgment of his violent actions that ultimately killed Eric Garner," Al Sharpton said in a statement.
"If Pantaleo's case goes to trial, the National Action Network, Black clergy members, and civil rights leaders will pack the courts while wearing neck braces to show solidarity in our fight for justice for the Garner family and victims of police brutality. And if Pantaleo wins this lawsuit, he will continue to pose a threat to all Black and Brown people in New York City," Sharpton added.
The 34-year-old former officer was making about $85,000 before he was fired for using the chokehold that the city coroner said killed Garner.
"There is overwhelming evidence that Respondent used a prohibited chokehold, as defined by the 2014 Patrol Guide. Respondent's use of a prohibited chokehold was reckless and constituted a gross deviation from the standard of conduct established for a New York City police officer," Maldonado wrote in her August decision.
But London said, "all of Pantaleo's contacts with Mr. Garner were appropriate and taught in the academy." Despite the video evidence, London claimed Pantaleo never put any pressure on Garner's neck and that he probably died from either a lung or a heart condition.
"Had Mr. Garner not resisted and not had such a compromised health situation, the result may have been very different," London told CNN.
