The New York City Medical Examiner has ruled that Staten Island father Eric Garner’s death was a homicide.
The 43-year-old dad was killed after New York Police Department cops put him in an illegal chokehold while attempting to arrest him for selling untaxed cigarettes on July 17. The medical examiner’s spokesperson said that Garner ultimately died from compression of the neck and compression of the chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by the police. Garner’s asthma, obesity, and hypertension were also listed as contributing factors to his death, according to the autopsy.
“Thank God the truth is finally out,” Garner’s wife Esaw Garner told The New York Daily News. “Thank God for that.”
Garner’s death on July 17 was caught on video. He culd be heard repeatedly telling police officers that he couldn’t breathe. New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton has committed to re-training the city’s police force on the proper use of force when subduing a suspect.