A New York City man’s death last month resulted in part from a chokehold applied by a police officer trying to arrest him, a medical examiner said in ruling it a homicide, reports the Wall Street Journal.The incident has drawn local and federal prosecutors’ attention, while elected officials and civil-rights leaders have pressed Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner William Bratton to make changes at the police department.
The cause of Eric Garner’s death was compression of the neck, chest compression and being laid flat on the ground while officers restrained him, said Julie Bolcer, spokeswoman for the Chief Medical Examiner. Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, the union that represents NYPD officers, said his organization “stands firmly in support of all police officers who are put in these difficult circumstances.” On July 17, two plainclothes officers moved to arrest Garner, 43 years old, for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes on a Staten Island sidewalk, police said. Witnesses recorded video of the confrontation, and the footage was posted on the New York Daily News website.