NYPD sergeant in Eric Garner’s death faces departmental charges

A NYPD sergeant has been stripped of her gun and badge and charged internally in the July 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner, the first official accusation of wrongdoing in the case that helped spark a national movement on the role of race in policing.

The Huffington Post reports:

New York Police Department Sgt. Kizzy Adonis was one of the supervising officers at the scene of Garner’s death on Staten Island during an arrest on suspicion of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes. She was not part of the team out investigating that day but heard the radio call and was nearby and responded to the scene. Adonis is black and so was Garner.

Officials said Friday that Adonis was charged with failure to supervise, an internal disciplinary sanction. Sgt. Ed Mullins, the head of her union, called the charge ridiculous and political.

“She didn’t have to go there – she chose to go there to help out and look what happens,” he said, adding it was Commissioner William Bratton, not Adonis, who is to blame. “This incident stems from failed policies that ultimately led to the death of Eric Garner.”

The incident, which was caught on camera, sparked national outrage and protests against police, specifically how they treat Black men.

In the video, several officers try to detain Garner for allegedly selling illegal cigarettes. An officer comes behind Garner and puts him in an illegal chokehold. Several minutes later, Garner can be heard saying “I can’t breathe”. The medical examiner found the chokehold contributed to his death. Coupled with police killings of unarmed black men elsewhere in recent months, the death became a conversation piece in a national debate about relations between police and minority communities.