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Gwen Carr holds a picture
of her son Eric Garner during a news conference in New York with relatives of
New Yorkers killed by police (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
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The family of a black man who died after being placed in a
white police officer's chokehold reached a US$5.9 million settlement with the
city on Monday, days before the anniversary of his death.
Eric Garner's family in
October filed a notice of claim, the first step in filing a lawsuit against the
city, asking for US$75 million.
Associated Press report continues:
Garner, who was 43, was
stopped last July 17 outside a Staten Island convenience store because police
officers believed he was selling loose, untaxed cigarettes. A video shot by an onlooker
shows Garner telling the officers to leave him alone and refusing to be
handcuffed.
Officer Daniel Pantaleo
placed his arm around Garner's neck to take him down. Garner, who had asthma,
is heard gasping "I can't breathe!" 11 times before losing consciousness.
He was pronounced dead later at a hospital.
The city medical examiner
found the police chokehold contributed to Garner's death. But a grand jury
declined to indict the officer in the death. A federal probe is ongoing.
Chokeholds are banned by
New York Police Department policy. Pantaleo says he used a legal takedown
maneouvre known as a seatbelt, not a chokehold.
Garner's death sparked
demonstrations and became a flashpoint in a national debate about relations
between police and minority communities.
While the city has a
legal department that fields lawsuits, the comptroller's office also can settle
claims. Comptroller Scott Stringer has made a point of doing that in civil
rights cases, saying that resolving them quickly saves the city money on legal
fees.
"Following a
judicious review of the claim and facts of this case, my office was able to
reach a settlement with the estate of Eric Garner that is in the best interests
of all parties," Stringer said.
The city did not admit
any liability.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said
that hopefully Garner's family "can find some peace and finality"
from the settlement.
"By reaching a
resolution, family and other loved ones can move forward even though we know
they will never forget this tragic incident," said de Blasio, who was
scheduled to speak Tuesday at a church memorial service in Garner's honor.
Longtime civil rights
attorney Jonathan Moore, the family's lawyer, said there also was a settlement
with the Richmond University Medical Center, which responded to the scene. That
settlement is confidential, and there was no one available at the hospital to
comment. Moore said there would be a press conference Tuesday with the Rev. Al
Sharpton and the family.
Sharpton said the
settlement to the family was deserved but didn't resolve the larger questions
around policing and minorities. He said a rally planned for Saturday calling
for an expedited federal investigation into Garner's death would go on as
planned.
"We did not march
and build a movement just to get money," he said.
The city has reached
settlements in other high-profile cases involving deaths of black men at the
hands police officers. In 2004, the city agreed to pay US$3 million to settle a
lawsuit brought by the family of Amadou Diallo, who was shot by four police
officers in 1999.
In 2010, the city agreed
to pay US$3.25 million to the estate of Sean Bell, who was killed in 2006
outside a strip club while leaving his bachelor party. Police had targeted the
club for an undercover operation.
In January, the city
settled with the family of teenager Ramarley Graham, who was shot by a police
officer in 2012, for US$3.9 million.
Last month, the
comptroller's office agreed to pay US$6.25 million to a man who spent nearly 25
years in prison before being exonerated in a killing that happened while he was
more than 1,000 miles away vacationing at Disney World. A US$6.4 million
settlement was reached with a man exonerated in the 1990 killing of a rabbi.
Stringer also agreed to a US$2.25
million payout to the family of a mentally ill inmate who died in a Rikers
Island jail cell that sweltered to 101 degrees because of a malfunctioning
heating system, and he helped put together a US$17 million settlement in the
case of three half-brothers who spent a combined 60 years in prison before
their convictions were thrown out.
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RT.com reports that the City of New York will
pay the family of Eric Garner, who died last year after police placed him in a
chokehold, a total of US$5.9 million to settle a wrongful death claim. The family
had originally sought US$75 million.
News of the settlement
came Monday evening just a few days before a deadline that would have seen the
Garner family file a lawsuit against the city, which would have involved a
lengthy and expensive court battle, the New York Times reported. No
further details about the controversial confrontation between Garner and New
York City police were released.
“No sum of money can make
this family whole, but hopefully the Garner family can find some peace and
finality from today’s settlement,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a
statement. “By reaching a resolution, family and other loved ones can move
forward even though we know they will never forget this tragic incident.”
The deal arrived almost
one year after 43-year-old Garner died. On July 17, 2014, he was confronted by
NYPD officers for allegedly selling loose cigarettes on Staten Island. Garner,
an African-American father of six, said he had done nothing wrong. Video
captured by a bystander showed multiple officers taking Garner to the ground while
attempting to arrest him, with Officer Daniel Pantaleo placing Garner in a
chokehold banned by the department. During the incident, Garner is heard
saying “I can’t breathe” 11 times.
A medical examiner ruled
Garner’s death a homicide, but a grand jury declined to press charges against
Officer Pantaleo, a decision that sparked massive protests over police behavior
in New York City and around the United States.
According to Reuters, New
York City Comptroller Scott Stringer said the settlement was “in the best
interest of all parties.” He said the city did not admit liability for
Garner’s death.
“I believe that we have
reached an agreement that acknowledges the tragic nature of Mr. Garner’s death
while balancing my office’s fiscal responsibility to the City,” Stringer said
in a statement.
The Garner family,
accompanied by Reverend Al Sharpton of the National Action Network, is
scheduled to address the settlement Tuesday morning. The family is also set to
lead a rally on Saturday, as it seeks to urge federal prosecutors to bring a
case against the officer involved in Garner’s death.
“This is not about people
getting money,” Sharpton said, according to the NY Times. “This is
about justice. We’ve got to restructure our police departments and how we deal
with policing nationwide.”
It’s unclear if federal
officials have a case to bring against Pantaleo, who is white, since filing a
civil rights lawsuit would require proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the
officer willfully violated Garner’s rights and targeted him because of his
race. The Times reported that an NYPD investigation into the case has been
completed, but it’s not clear if any officers involved in the incident will
face punishment.
Last week, the Garner
family reportedly turned down a settlement offer of US$5 million. 
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