When speaking of releasing the dove, Jewel Miller, 38, the mother of Garner’s child, who organized having the dove at the ceremony, stated that “Eric was a gentle giant and the dove is a symbol of peace”.
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London has not replied to CNN’s requests for comment, but he told the New York Daily News last week that his client – despite enough death threats to warrant a police detail – still hopes to return to full duty. The father of six from Staten Island died because he had long sold loose cigarettes to support his family.
“One year ago we heard Eric Garner’s last words, ‘I can’t breathe, ‘ and still we have no justice”, said Travis Morales, who led the march organized by Stop Mass Incarceration, a group that protests police brutality and the unjust incarceration of blacks and Latinos.
Mr.de Blasio’s uttered the two statements alongside “black lives matter” at Mount Sinai United Christian Church in an apparent effort to emphasize the need for reconciliation between minorities and the NYPD ahead of the one year anniversary of Garner’s killing on Friday.
In December, a Staten Island grand jury declined to indict Pantaleo, a decision that touched off weeks of protests and demands for police reform.
Though the family arranged a .9 million settlement with the city, Erica says, “No amount of money is going to heal our pain, so we just search and search for justice”. The Garner family will mark the occasion with a rally on Saturday outside the federal prosecutor’s office in Brooklyn to call once again for civil rights charges.
“Don’t congratulate us. This is not a victory”. “There’s a killer roaming our streets”, she said.
The settlement came almost a year after the 43-year-old Garner died, having repeatedly pleaded “I can’t breathe!” as Officer Daniel Pantaleo took him to the ground with an arm around his neck.
A separate settlement was reached with the hospital that employed emergency medical technicians who responded to the scene and did not aid Garner. “It forced us to examine the state of race relations, and the relationship between our police force and the people they serve”, he said.
“Justice to me is to hold the police accountable for what they do”.
“Eric was anybody’s best friend”, Miller said.
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“Where is the justice for New York taxpayers?” asked Ed Mullins, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, according to the New York Post. A video shot by an onlooker shows Garner, who was black, telling the officers to leave him alone and refusing to be handcuffed. He argues the settlement is too generous considering that Garner’s poor health may have contributed to his death. “You see in many cases that the criminal cases doesn’t generate charges, but the civil case succeeds”.
