A New York police officer who caused the death of an unarmed black man as he tries to arrest him in 2014 will face no criminal charges, a federal public prosecutor has said.
Richard Donghuey, the US Attorney General in East New York, said there was insufficient evidence that police officer Daniel Pantaleo had broken the law or violated the civil rights of Eric Garner, who was selling cigarettes illegally, outside a shop in Staten Island before his death on June 17. July, five years ago.
"Even if we can prove that Bantalio has held Garner in an unreasonable force, we will have to prove, without any doubt, that the officer acted deliberately, in violation of the law," Donghui said.
There was a video about the incident. The victim showed Garner avoiding his arrest and being chained by the policeman, then shouted "I can not breathe" for at least 11 times, and the policeman tightens his throat, until Garner is unconscious.
The tragic incident and what appeared in the video provoked more protests from the "Black Life Movement" across the United States, a movement that focuses on incidents in which black citizens are killed by police violence.
Garner´s mother, Gwynne Carr, told a news conference on Tuesday that the US Justice Department ("prosecutors") had "let us down," but the family would continue to "follow the case."
