NYPD moves forward with disciplinary proceedings in Eric Garner’s death: report

The New York Police Department (NYPD) reportedly announced that Monday that the police officer accused of choking to death Eric Garner, an unarmed black man, will face a disciplinary hearing.

White NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo could face dismissal nearly four years after Garner’s death, the Associated Press reported.

The lawyer for the NYPD criticized the Department of Justice (DOJ) for dragging its feet on whether it will bring about a federal criminal case.

{mosads}“Based on our most recent conversations, it has become clear that a definite date by which time a final decision by the U.S. DOJ will be rendered in this matter cannot be predicted,” Lawrence Byrne, NYPD’s deputy commissioner for legal matters, wrote to prosecutor Paige Fitzgerald.

Police departments typically hold off on taking disciplinary action until federal prosecutors finish inquiries into possible civil rights violations, the AP noted.

Byrne added that the NYPD could not longer justify putting off disciplinary proceedings.

Pantaleo has reportedly been on desk duty since the fatal incident on July 17, 2017.

Garner, 43, was stopped by police and was accused of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes.

Pantaleo was captured on viral video putting Garner in an apparent chokehold.

Garner’s gasps “I can’t breathe,” a phrase that has become a rallying cry for Black Lives Matters protests.

Garner’s family received a $5.9 million wrongful death settlement from the city in 2015.

A police watchdog agency called the Civilian Complain Review Board is set to handle the case, Byrne wrote.