NEW YORK (AP) – A federal civil rights investigation into the police chokehold death of Eric Garner has been moving forward in New York, but its future is uncertain as a U.S. attorney general with a law-and-order bent takes over the Justice Department.
Two people with inside knowledge of the probe say a federal grand jury in Brooklyn met as late as last week to hear testimony about Garner’s deadly confrontation with New York Police Department officers on Staten Island in 2014.
Garner’s dying words, “I can’t breathe,” became a slogan for the Black Lives Matter movement.
In recent weeks, officers who were present when Officer Daniel Pantaleo wrapped his arm around Garner’s neck have testified before the grand jury, according to the people, who were not authorized to discuss the secret proceedings and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Whether such testimony continues may depend on internal Justice Department politics.