Daniel Pantaleo, Officer Who Held Eric Garner in Chokehold, Is Fired – The New York Times

“We are urging all New York City police officers to proceed with the utmost caution in this new reality, in which they may be deemed ‘reckless’ just for doing their job,” the Police Benevolent Association president, Patrick J. Lynch, said in a statement. “We will uphold our oath, but we cannot and will not do so by needlessly jeopardizing our careers or personal safety.”

Mr. Garner’s family said it would continue to press for congressional hearings into his death and for state legislation making it a crime for a police officer to use a chokehold. They also continued to call for other officers involved in Mr. Garner’s arrest to be punished for their actions.

“For Commissioner O’Neill, I thank you for doing the right thing,” said Emerald Snipes Garner, Mr. Garner’s daughter, at a news conference. “You finally made a decision that should have been made five years ago.”

For years, the Garner family, some elected officials and critics of the Police Department have said Mr. Garner’s death was an outcome of the department’s “broken windows” strategy, which affected black and Latino neighborhoods disproportionately.

As protests grew, Officer Pantaleo became a symbol of longstanding problems with how the police treat people, mostly black and Latino, suspected of low-level crimes. Mr. Garner died as he was being arrested on charges of selling untaxed cigarettes on Staten Island.

After Mr. Garner’s death, the Police Department scaled back the heavy enforcement of low-level crimes. But Officer Pantaleo’s continued employment on the police force still infuriated Mr. Garner’s family and their supporters. They lobbied for the officer to be fired and stripped of his pension, and put pressure on Mr. de Blasio to make it happen.

Under the City Charter and state law, however, the decision to fire Officer Pantaleo ultimately belonged to Commissioner O’Neill, not the mayor.