New York City mayor memorializes Eric Garner on 10th anniversary of his death

New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) on Wednesday marked the 10th anniversary of the death of Eric Garner, a Black man who was killed by police in 2014, calling his death a “painful chapter in the history” of the city.

“Today marks 10 years since the tragic death of Eric Garner. The events that happened on July 17, 2014 are a painful chapter in the history of our city,” Adams wrote in a post on the social platform X. “But Eric did not die in vain. While there will always be more work to do, we have learned from this tragedy to ensure it never happens again.”

Garner’s death at the hands of police sparked widespread Black Lives Matter protests in 2014, demanding action against police brutality.

Adams, a former police officer, said during a Tuesday press conference that he prays there will not be an “Eric Garner situation” again.

“With Eric Garner, I remember like yesterday when the call came in, I remember going to the wake and seeing and speaking with the family members,” he said.

Garner was held in a chokehold by police in Staten Island on July 17, 2014, after police claimed they were attempting to arrest him for selling untaxed cigarettes. A bystander video showed him saying “I can’t breathe” while locked in the chokehold before he lost consciousness. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who put Garner in a chokehold, was fired in 2019. Neither Pantaleo nor the other officers present were ever charged with a crime, despite the city medical examiner’s office ruling the death a homicide.

New York authorities later found Pantaleo used a chokehold banned by the New York Police Department in the 1990s, The Associated Press reported.

In 2021, Garner’s family settled a lawsuit against the city for $5.9 million, while also seeking justice through a judicial inquiry into his death the same year, the news wire added.

The New York City Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) called for more action against deadly police violence in Wednesday comments.

“A decade later and not enough has been done to end the epidemic of deadly police violence towards Black people,” the organization wrote on X. “Eric Garner should still be alive today.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton on Wednesday said he joined Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, with members of the National Action Network, to honor his memory at the site of his death.

“We gathered to show community in unity, even amidst the pain and anger, that we will not be divided,” Sharpton wrote in a lengthy post on X. “Together, we fight on in Eric’s name against injustice and police brutality. While we have seen some progress, such as body cameras and the Eric Garner law, true justice and accountability for Eric’s death remain elusive.”

Six years after Garner’s death, the death of George Floyd, who spoke the same words while begging for air during a police confrontation, renewed a new wave of Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020.

Updated at 12:13 p.m. EDT