NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said
Friday the Justice Department is "closely monitoring" New York City’s
investigation into the death of a man who was placed in an apparent
chokehold by a police officer arresting him on suspicion of selling
loose, untaxed cigarettes.
Holder, in a statement, called Eric
Garner’s death in Staten Island last week a "tragic event" and said
Justice Department officials have been in contact with his family.
Holder’s
statement came hours after members of Garner’s family, the Rev. Al
Sharpton and others met with federal prosecutors in Brooklyn to press
for an investigation into the death.
"The civil rights of Eric
Garner were violated," Sharpton said after the closed-door meeting with
officials from the criminal division of the U.S. attorney’s Office.
"That led to his death."
An amateur video shows a plainclothes
police officer placing Garner in what appears to be a chokehold, which
is banned under police policy. The 43-year-old Garner can be heard
gasping, "I can’t breathe!"
Autopsy results are pending further testing.
The
NYPD is investigating the circumstances of Garner’s death, Staten
Island prosecutors have launched a criminal probe and several public
safety workers involved in the case have been pulled from the street.
Daniel
Pantaleo, identified as the officer who wrapped his arm around Garner’s
neck, has been stripped of his gun and badge. Another officer has also
been placed on desk duty.
Two paramedics and two EMTs have been suspended without pay after the fire department barred them from
responding to 911 calls.
Garner’s
widow, mother and one of his daughters walked solemnly into the Friday
meeting with prosecutors. They held hands with Sharpton. No family
members spoke to reporters.
Civil rights lawyers Sanford
Rubenstein and Michael Hardy and the Rev. Herbert Daughtry, a longtime
activist clergyman from Brooklyn, also attended the meeting.
They
met with James McGovern, chief of the criminal division for the U.S.
Attorney’s Eastern District, and with Taryn Merkl, the division’s chief
of civil rights.
Sharpton likened Garner’s death to notorious
police brutality cases, such as the 1991 beating of Rodney King in Los
Angeles. He said the video shows police and paramedics indifferent to
Garner’s suffering.
"There can be no doubt at some point of 11
cries of ‘I can’t breathe,’" Sharpton said. "There can be no doubt based
on the videotapes that clearly the EMS workers and other police did
nothing intentionally to stop the illegal use of a chokehold and there
can be no doubt that the chokehold was used with intent."
Sharpton
said Garner’s family is asking to meet with the Staten Island district
attorney’s office to "deal with the investigation there." The family is
expected to speak publicly for the first time at a National Action
Network rally Saturday.