Last week, a Staten Island grand jury chose not to indict NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo for his role in Eric Garner's death. Now, Pantaleo's attorney claims that his client executed a "takedown" on Garner, not a chokehold.
According to the New York Post, Pantaleo spoke to the NYPD's Internal Affairs division for two hours on Monday as part of an official review of the incident. Pantaleo's lawyer, Stuart London, explained what he told police brass:
He reiterated that he used a takedown maneuver, that he did not utilize a chokehold. And any contact his arm had with the neck was incidental. He never intended to harm Mr. Garner, nor did he ever apply any pressure to his neck area. We have always maintained it was never a chokehold. It was takedown procedure he was instructed in how to perform while in the police academy.
For the record, chokeholds have been outlawed by the NYPD since 1993, just before current NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton's first stint as head of the city's police force began. Regardless of whatever semantic spin London, Pantaleo, and the police department want to place on the situation, the city medical examiner ruled Garner's death a homicide in August.
An Internal Affairs review of the incident is expected to take two months, at the least.
[via New York Post]
