Eric Garner

Eric Garner
Born	9/15/1970
Died	7/17/2014 Staten Island, New York, United States
Nationality	American
Known for	Death during arrest by NYPD; "I can't breathe" as civil rights rallying cry
Spouse(s)	Esaw Snipes-Garner
Children	6

Eric Garner (September 15, 1970 – July 17, 2014) was an African American man who died in the Staten Island borough of New York City after a New York City Police Department officer placed him in a chokehold during an arrest. The incident, captured on a bystander's cell phone video that subsequently went viral, showed Garner repeatedly stating "I can't breathe" as officers restrained him on the sidewalk. His death, ruled a homicide by the New York City medical examiner, became one of several high-profile cases that galvanized the Black Lives Matter movement and prompted nationwide protests against police brutality and the use of excessive force against African Americans. The phrase "I can't breathe," drawn from Garner's final words, became one of the most recognizable rallying cries of the modern civil rights movement in the United States. A Staten Island grand jury's subsequent decision not to indict the officer involved, Daniel Pantaleo, intensified public outrage and raised questions about police accountability and the grand jury process. Garner was 43 years old at the time of his death and was a father of six children.

Early Life

Eric Garner was born on September 15, 1970. He grew up in the New York City area and was an African American man who, by the time of his death, had long been a resident of Staten Island. Garner was described as a father of six children and was known in his neighborhood in the Tompkinsville area of Staten Island. He had been married to Esaw Snipes-Garner, who later became a prominent activist in the aftermath of his death.

Prior to the events that led to his death, Garner had had multiple encounters with law enforcement. He was known to police in the area, and officers alleged that he was involved in the sale of loose, untaxed cigarettes — known as "loosies" — on the streets of Staten Island. It was this allegation that precipitated the fatal encounter on July 17, 2014.

Death

Events of July 17, 2014

On July 17, 2014, two New York City Police Department officers confronted Eric Garner on Bay Street in the Tompkinsville neighborhood of Staten Island. The officers approached Garner on suspicion that he was selling loose, untaxed cigarettes. Garner, who was 43 years old at the time, objected to being approached and denied the allegations. What followed was captured in its entirety by bystander Ramsey Orta, who recorded the encounter on his cell phone.

The video showed NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo approaching Garner from behind and placing his arm around Garner's neck in what was later identified as a chokehold — a restraint technique that had been prohibited by NYPD policy since 1993. Pantaleo and other officers then brought Garner to the ground, where he was restrained face-down on the sidewalk. During the encounter, Garner repeatedly stated "I can't breathe" — a phrase he uttered eleven times while being held down by the officers. Garner lost consciousness on the sidewalk and was subsequently transported to Richmond University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead approximately one hour later.

The New York City medical examiner ruled Garner's death a homicide, finding that the cause of death was "compression of neck (chokehold), compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police." Contributing factors included Garner's health conditions, including bronchial asthma, heart disease, and obesity — Garner was approximately 350 pounds at the time of his death.

Bystander Video

The cell phone video recorded by Ramsey Orta played a central role in bringing public attention to Garner's death. The footage, which was uploaded to the internet and quickly went viral, provided a clear visual record of the encounter between Garner and the police officers. The video showed Garner's repeated pleas of "I can't breathe" and the officers' continued restraint despite those statements. The existence and widespread circulation of the video was significant in the broader context of bystander recordings of police encounters, which had increasingly become a tool for public accountability. Garner's case was one of several prominent incidents in which bystander video footage brought national and international attention to the use of force by police against African Americans.

Orta, who was 22 years old at the time he recorded the video, later faced legal difficulties of his own. He was subsequently arrested on unrelated charges and served time in prison. As of 2026, Orta continued to face legal challenges, including an arrest for assault that resulted in a violation of his parole conditions.

Grand Jury and Legal Proceedings

Grand Jury Decision

In December 2014, a Staten Island grand jury voted not to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo on any charges related to Garner's death. The decision was announced approximately five months after the incident and drew widespread condemnation. The grand jury proceedings were conducted in secret, as is standard in New York State, and the specific evidence presented to the jurors was not made public.

The ACLU of Northern California, responding to the grand jury's decision, noted that "perhaps the most surprising thing about yesterday's announcement from the Staten Island grand jury is our own surprise at the outcome," pointing to what the organization described as a systemic pattern in which grand juries rarely indicted police officers for on-duty killings. The decision came just nine days after a Ferguson, Missouri grand jury had declined to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown, compounding public frustration over the perceived lack of accountability for police officers involved in the deaths of African Americans.

Federal Investigation

Following the state grand jury's decision, the United States Department of Justice opened a federal civil rights investigation into Garner's death. The federal investigation examined whether Pantaleo had willfully violated Garner's civil rights. After years of investigation, in July 2019 — five years after Garner's death and just days before the statute of limitations was set to expire — the Justice Department announced that it would not bring federal charges against Pantaleo. The decision was made under then-Attorney General William Barr.

NYPD Disciplinary Action

Although Pantaleo was not criminally charged at either the state or federal level, the NYPD pursued its own internal disciplinary proceedings. In August 2019, an NYPD administrative judge recommended that Pantaleo be fired. NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill subsequently terminated Pantaleo from the department, stating that while he believed Pantaleo had not intended to harm Garner, the officer had used a prohibited chokehold and that his actions constituted a "gross deviation" from proper policing techniques. Pantaleo's firing came more than five years after Garner's death.

Aftermath and Protests

Initial Protests

Garner's death, and particularly the availability of the bystander video showing his final moments, prompted immediate protests in New York City and across the United States. Demonstrators gathered in Staten Island, Manhattan, and other locations in the days following the incident in July 2014. The protests intensified significantly following the grand jury's decision not to indict Pantaleo in December 2014. Thousands of protesters took to the streets in New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Boston, and other cities. Many demonstrators adopted Garner's words "I can't breathe" as a protest slogan, wearing T-shirts and carrying signs bearing the phrase.

Connection to the Black Lives Matter Movement

Garner's death occurred during a period in which multiple high-profile deaths of African Americans at the hands of police or during encounters with law enforcement drew sustained national attention. Along with the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, Tamir Rice in Cleveland, Ohio, and others, Garner's case became a focal point for the Black Lives Matter movement, which called for systemic reform of policing in the United States. The movement, which had originated following the 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, gained significant momentum in 2014 partly as a result of the Garner and Brown cases.

The phrase "I can't breathe" transcended the specific circumstances of Garner's death and became a broader symbol of protest against police violence. The phrase gained renewed prominence in May 2020 when George Floyd uttered similar words while being restrained by a Minneapolis police officer, an incident that also resulted in death and was captured on video. Floyd's death sparked the largest wave of civil rights protests in the United States in decades, and Garner's name was frequently invoked alongside Floyd's as demonstrators called for police reform.

Legislative and Policy Impact

The public response to Garner's death contributed to various calls for legislative and policy reforms related to policing. In New York, the case reignited debate over the NYPD's use-of-force policies and the department's prohibition on chokeholds. In 2020, in the wake of George Floyd's death, New York State passed the Eric Garner Anti-Chokehold Act, which criminalized the use of chokeholds and other forms of restraint that compress the diaphragm by law enforcement officers. The legislation was named in Garner's honor and represented one of the most direct legislative responses to his death.

Personal Life

Eric Garner was married to Esaw Snipes-Garner and was the father of six children. After his death, his family became prominent advocates for police accountability and reform. Esaw Snipes-Garner was an outspoken presence at protests and in media appearances in the years following her husband's death. She worked to keep public attention on the case and on broader issues of police reform. Esaw Snipes-Garner died on June 15, 2025, at the age of 58. Her death was announced by family members and reported by multiple news outlets, which noted her role as an activist who had sought justice for her husband for more than a decade.

Garner's daughter, Erica Garner, also became a prominent activist in the aftermath of her father's death, campaigning for police reform and supporting political candidates who addressed criminal justice issues. Erica Garner died on December 30, 2017, at the age of 27, after suffering a heart attack.

Garner's mother, Gwen Carr, also became an advocate for police accountability, speaking publicly about her son's death and calling for systemic changes in law enforcement practices.

Legacy

Eric Garner's death and its aftermath had a lasting impact on public discourse about policing, race, and accountability in the United States. His case is frequently cited alongside those of other African Americans who died during encounters with law enforcement as a catalyst for the modern movement for police reform.

The phrase "I can't breathe," drawn from Garner's final words as he was restrained by police, became one of the most recognizable slogans of the movement against police brutality. The phrase was adopted by protesters across the United States and internationally, appeared on T-shirts and signs at demonstrations, and was referenced by athletes, artists, and political figures. Its recurrence during the 2020 death of George Floyd underscored the continuity of the issues that Garner's case had brought to national attention.

The bystander video recorded by Ramsey Orta was significant not only for its role in the Garner case but also as part of a broader pattern in which civilian recordings of police encounters became powerful tools for public accountability. Garner's case, along with other incidents captured on video, contributed to debates about police body cameras, civilian oversight of law enforcement, and the role of technology in civil rights advocacy. Britannica has noted that the advent of bystander video technology "fundamentally changed the dynamic" of how incidents of police force are documented and scrutinized.

On the tenth anniversary of Garner's death in July 2024, memorial events were held in his honor, and his case was revisited in media coverage that assessed its impact on American policing and civil rights. The anniversary provided an occasion for reflection on both the progress that had been made in police reform efforts and the challenges that remained.

The Eric Garner Anti-Chokehold Act, passed by New York State in 2020, stands as a direct legislative legacy of his death, codifying into law a prohibition on the specific restraint technique that contributed to his death. The legislation represented a concrete policy change that arose from the public outcry over the circumstances of his death and the subsequent failure to secure criminal charges against the officers involved.