Protesters have vowed a new round of demonstrations in New York after a grand jury decided not to charge a white police officer in the chokehold death of an unarmed black man, Radio New Zealand reports.
Hundreds of demonstrators swarmed into the streets of Manhattan last night, many chanting “I can’t breathe” - the same phrase Eric Garner repeatedly gasped in a video of the incident before his death.
The 43-year-old father of six was stopped on a Staten Island street on 17 July on suspicion of selling untaxed cigarettes.
After a confrontation with police he was wrestled to the ground and restrained by force. He became unresponsive and later died.
#ICantBreathe Thank you @NYDailyNews for underscoring that print journalism is still relevant. pic.twitter.com/pluQqIBMSZ
— NYgrooveX (@NYgrooveX) December 4, 2014
US Attorney General Eric Holder has announced the justice department would launch a civil rights investigation into the death.
The officer who restrained Garner, Daniel Pantaleo said it was never his intention to harm anyone and he felt very bad about the incident.
Garner's wife, Esaw Garner, rejected the condolences. “The time to apologise or have any remorse ... would have been when my husband was screaming he couldn't breathe,” she told US media.
