Federal civil rights prosecutors and top Justice Department officials are reportedly at odds over charging an NYPD officer in the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner.
A recommendation to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo has reached the desk of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, but no decision has been made on whether to move forward with the case, according to The New York Times.
Justice Department officials were reticent to proceed with a case considered difficult to win, and the Times reported that one law enforcement official said it was unlikely Rosenstein would approve the charges.
“It looks like the people who worked the case want (Pantaleo) indicted,” said civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton. “They need Rosenstein and (Attorney General Jeff) Sessions to sign off on it.”
Lawyers for both the Garner family and Pantaleo said they heard nothing about the possibility of charges against the officer as the fourth anniversary of the death looms.
Nixing the charges “would be a huge disappointment,” said family attorney Jonathan Moore, who expressed concerns about the reported divide between the department’s top echelon and the actual case investigators.
Moore said the Garner family last met with prosecutors in the case this past June at a downtown Brooklyn hotel where they were joined by a pair of FBI agents, too.
Pantaleo’s lawyer Stu London said he was not told of any decision to indict in the case that ignited national protests.
“Officer Panteleo has consistently denied he ever violated Mr. Garner’s civil rights,” said London. “This was a simple street encounter, with no violation of anyone’s constitutional rights.
“Politics should never trump the rule of law, and it is always important to remember that anytime there is a loss of life, it is tragedy.”
A Staten Island grand jury declined to indict Pantaleo in the fatal arrest. Garner’s oft-quoted last words before his July 2014 death were, “I can’t breathe.”
Garner died as Pantaleo and other officers stopped him over accusations that he was selling untaxed cigarettes. Pantelo placed him in the chokehold after police said he resisted arrest.
Federal civil rights prosecutors have been investigating the death since that time — with members of Garner’s family complaining that they had been dragging their feet in reaching a decision.
This is a breaking news story. This post will be updated.
BREAKING: Feds recommend charges for Garner chokehold cop Daniel Pantaleo to DOJ
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