Eric Garner’s mother on DOJ decision: ‘You killed my son and you won’t get away with it’

Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, vowed to continue fighting to have the New York City police officer who killed her son removed from the force, after the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it would not indict the officer over Garner’s 2014 death, according to ABC News.

“We’re not going away,” Carr said at a press conference Tuesday after the DOJ decision was announced.

{mosads}”You think it’s swept under the rug? No! It’s not going to be swept under the rug. Because, I’m out here. You all know my face. You’re going to see it even more now,” she added.

“We’re not going away,” Eric Garner’s mother says following DOJ decision.

“You think it’s swept under the rug? No! It’s not going to be swept under the rug. Because, I’m out here. You all know my face. You’re going to see it even more now.” https://t.co/aLS5pDb9Y1 pic.twitter.com/SBu7TyVl2L

— ABC News (@ABC) July 16, 2019

The DOJ announced Tuesday it would not bring federal or criminal civil rights charges against Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who applied a headlock to Garner in 2014 while trying to arrest him for selling untaxed cigarettes. Garner repeated “I can’t breathe” several times as he died.

Pantaleo has denied the hold was a chokehold, which is forbidden by New York Police Department policy. A New York City medical examiner ruled that Garner’s cause of death was an asthma attack brought on by a chokehold.

Garner was one of several cases of unarmed black men killed by police that gave rise to the Black Lives Matter movement, and his dying words became a rallying cry for protesters.

Pantaleo has been on desk duty since the killing and the results of his separate disciplinary hearing are still pending. Police Commissioner James O’Neill will have the final say on whether Pantaleo is fired or otherwise disciplined, and has said he will base that decision on the verdict in the hearing.

“We’re asking the commissioner to make the right decision. That officer, Officer Pantaleo, and all the officers who was involved in my son’s death that day, need to be off the force,” Carr said.

“You killed my son and you won’t get away with it,” she added. “I stood quietly by for five years; I’m not being quiet anymore.”