The Eric Garner case: Another cop fired for doing his job

Inasmuch as we live in an era that supports the bad guys over the good guys, it was inevitable that New York City police officer Daniel Pantaleo would end up being fired for doing his job during an arrest situation in which a black man died. It all began on July 17, 2014 during a routine police assignment.  About 3:30 P.M., Eric Garner, a 43-year-old black man, was approached by NYC cops as he was standing in front of a beauty supply store on Staten Island.  Acting on a complaint, the cops confronted Garner and accused him of selling untaxed cigarettes, a violation of New York State Law.  After telling him he was under arrest, officer Pantaleo tried to handcuff Garner, who was 6’2″ and weighed about 400 pounds.

Garner resisted the officers’ attempts to put the manacles on him, slapping their hands away.  It was then that Pantaleo placed his arm around Garner’s neck and tried to pull him to the ground.  The man was heard saying, “I can’t breathe” but continued to struggle.  According to cops on the scene, Garner lost consciousness.  An ambulance removed him to a hospital, and he was pronounced dead an hour later.  The NYC medical examiner found that death resulted from compression of the neck and chest during the physical restraint, adding that asthma, heart disease, and obesity were contributing factors.  There was no damage to the trachea (windpipe) or the neck bones.

Nevertheless, because NYC has a rule against cops using a chokehold during physical encounters, Pantaleo was put on desk duty and stripped of his service gun and his shield.  At a May 2019 hearing for Pantaleo, a medical examiner testified that his use of a prohibited chokehold on Garner “set into motion a lethal sequence” that led to a fatal asthma attack.  However, the examiner conceded that even “a bear hug” could have had the same effect as the chokehold, given that Garner weighed 395 pounds, suffered from asthma and diabetes, and had a heart twice the size of a healthy person’s heart.  In 2014, a grand jury declined to indict Pantaleo.  In addition, after a five-year federal civil rights investigation, no charges were brought against the officer.

None of that mattered to the race-hustlers who are always looking for another opportunity to divide the country and obtain more publicity (and money) for their hateful causes.  Something else that didn’t matter was the fact that Garner had been arrested by the NYPD more than thirty times since 1980 on charges such as assault, resisting arrest, grand larceny, and selling untaxed cigarettes.  In 2007, he filed a complaint in federal court accusing a cop of doing a cavity search on him during an arrest.  He told his legal aid lawyers that he intended to take all the cases against him to trial.  Why wouldn’t he?  Legal aid lawyers are paid for by the taxpayers, so it wouldn’t cost him a dime.  Incidentally, at the time of the incident that led to his death, he was out on bail for selling untaxed cigarettes, driving without a license, marijuana possession, and false impersonation.

How much of the aforementioned has been aired in the mainstream media?  According to those who never met a criminal they couldn’t love and embrace, Garner was nothing but a lovable teddy bear, a gentle giant with a heart of gold.  Pantaleo, on the other hand, was a savage brute who must have had racism on his mind when he viciously “murdered” a fine, upstanding black man.  Well, Al Sharpton and the rest of the race-hustlers have had another victory: Pantaleo was fired by NYC police commissioner James O’Neill.  He said he fired the officer based on a recent recommendation of a department disciplinary judge, adding that it was clear that Pantaleo “can no longer effectively serve as a New York City police officer.”  That’s liberal-speak for “there’s been so much controversy over this case that even the Democrat candidates running for president have called for his termination, and Mayor de Blasio assured his left wing base that ‘justice’ will be done.”

Pantaleo is just another sacrificial lamb in the left-wing plot to neutralize police and create anarchy on our streets.  As a result of incidents like this, how many cops will be more inclined to walk away from violent situations and let the criminals run wild?

During my 20 years as an NYC cop, I came across more than my share of tough guys who resisted arrest.  When that person is 6’2″ and 400 pounds, the cop knows his own life is on the line.  Do you know how hard it is to put handcuffs on a large man who tells you he’s not going without a fight?  Trust me: when that happens, the cop is about to be fighting for his life.  By the way, the cop can’t simply walk away from such defiance.  Moreover, he knows intuitively that someone who defies police authority is someone who is willing to kill you to avoid arrest.  That cop had better be prepared to do whatever it takes to fulfill every cop’s on-duty prayer: get back home alive!

Inasmuch as we live in an era that supports the bad guys over the good guys, it was inevitable that New York City police officer Daniel Pantaleo would end up being fired for doing his job during an arrest situation in which a black man died. It all began on July 17, 2014 during a routine police assignment.  About 3:30 P.M., Eric Garner, a 43-year-old black man, was approached by NYC cops as he was standing in front of a beauty supply store on Staten Island.  Acting on a complaint, the cops confronted Garner and accused him of selling untaxed cigarettes, a violation of New York State Law.  After telling him he was under arrest, officer Pantaleo tried to handcuff Garner, who was 6’2″ and weighed about 400 pounds.

Garner resisted the officers’ attempts to put the manacles on him, slapping their hands away.  It was then that Pantaleo placed his arm around Garner’s neck and tried to pull him to the ground.  The man was heard saying, “I can’t breathe” but continued to struggle.  According to cops on the scene, Garner lost consciousness.  An ambulance removed him to a hospital, and he was pronounced dead an hour later.  The NYC medical examiner found that death resulted from compression of the neck and chest during the physical restraint, adding that asthma, heart disease, and obesity were contributing factors.  There was no damage to the trachea (windpipe) or the neck bones.

Nevertheless, because NYC has a rule against cops using a chokehold during physical encounters, Pantaleo was put on desk duty and stripped of his service gun and his shield.  At a May 2019 hearing for Pantaleo, a medical examiner testified that his use of a prohibited chokehold on Garner “set into motion a lethal sequence” that led to a fatal asthma attack.  However, the examiner conceded that even “a bear hug” could have had the same effect as the chokehold, given that Garner weighed 395 pounds, suffered from asthma and diabetes, and had a heart twice the size of a healthy person’s heart.  In 2014, a grand jury declined to indict Pantaleo.  In addition, after a five-year federal civil rights investigation, no charges were brought against the officer.

None of that mattered to the race-hustlers who are always looking for another opportunity to divide the country and obtain more publicity (and money) for their hateful causes.  Something else that didn’t matter was the fact that Garner had been arrested by the NYPD more than thirty times since 1980 on charges such as assault, resisting arrest, grand larceny, and selling untaxed cigarettes.  In 2007, he filed a complaint in federal court accusing a cop of doing a cavity search on him during an arrest.  He told his legal aid lawyers that he intended to take all the cases against him to trial.  Why wouldn’t he?  Legal aid lawyers are paid for by the taxpayers, so it wouldn’t cost him a dime.  Incidentally, at the time of the incident that led to his death, he was out on bail for selling untaxed cigarettes, driving without a license, marijuana possession, and false impersonation.

How much of the aforementioned has been aired in the mainstream media?  According to those who never met a criminal they couldn’t love and embrace, Garner was nothing but a lovable teddy bear, a gentle giant with a heart of gold.  Pantaleo, on the other hand, was a savage brute who must have had racism on his mind when he viciously “murdered” a fine, upstanding black man.  Well, Al Sharpton and the rest of the race-hustlers have had another victory: Pantaleo was fired by NYC police commissioner James O’Neill.  He said he fired the officer based on a recent recommendation of a department disciplinary judge, adding that it was clear that Pantaleo “can no longer effectively serve as a New York City police officer.”  That’s liberal-speak for “there’s been so much controversy over this case that even the Democrat candidates running for president have called for his termination, and Mayor de Blasio assured his left wing base that ‘justice’ will be done.”

Pantaleo is just another sacrificial lamb in the left-wing plot to neutralize police and create anarchy on our streets.  As a result of incidents like this, how many cops will be more inclined to walk away from violent situations and let the criminals run wild?

During my 20 years as an NYC cop, I came across more than my share of tough guys who resisted arrest.  When that person is 6’2″ and 400 pounds, the cop knows his own life is on the line.  Do you know how hard it is to put handcuffs on a large man who tells you he’s not going without a fight?  Trust me: when that happens, the cop is about to be fighting for his life.  By the way, the cop can’t simply walk away from such defiance.  Moreover, he knows intuitively that someone who defies police authority is someone who is willing to kill you to avoid arrest.  That cop had better be prepared to do whatever it takes to fulfill every cop’s on-duty prayer: get back home alive!