Killing of Eric Garner
July 17, 2014 · 21st Century
On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner, a 43-year-old Black man, died after NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo placed him in a chokehold during an arrest for allegedly selling loose cigarettes on Staten Island, New York. The entire incident was recorded on video. Garner's repeated statement "I can't breathe" — said eleven times — became a defining phrase of the movement against police violence. A Staten Island grand jury declined to indict Pantaleo in December 2014. The federal civil rights investigation concluded without charges in 2019, when Pantaleo was fired after five years.
Key Figures
Eric GarnerDaniel PantaleoErica Garner
Locations
New York City
Topics
civil rightsUSAafrican american historyracismpolicingpolice violencecriminal justice
Connected Events — 4 Connections
Federal civil rights protections failed to prevent death fifty years after Civil Rights Act of 1964
Documented pattern of filmed police violence continuing from Rodney King Beating by LAPD Officers
Second high-profile killing that intensified movement begun after Shooting of Trayvon Martin
Occurred three weeks after and compounded national crisis of Shooting of Michael Brown
The Time Detectives® · Cadet Mission
Investigate This Event
Place it on the timeline. Earn points. Master the connections.
New to The Time Detectives?
Learn what it is →