Sergeant At Scene Of Eric Garner Death Disciplined By NYPD

A New York police sergeant has been stripped of her gun and badge and served with depart­men­tal charges in rela­tion to the July 2014 choke­hold death of Eric Garner, the first offi­cial accu­sa­tion of wrong­do­ing in the case that helped spark a nation­al move­ment around the role of race in polic­ing. 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. 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. “The only one that should be mod­i­fied should be Commissioner Bratton because this inci­dent stems from failed poli­cies that ulti­mate­ly led to the death of Eric Garner.” The encounter, caught on video by an onlook­er, spurred protests about police treat­ment of black men. Garner is seen yelling “I can’t breathe!” 11 times before los­ing consciousness.

The med­ical exam­in­er found the choke­hold con­tributed to his death. Coupled with police killings of unarmed black men else­where in recent months, Garner’s death became a flash­point in a nation­al debate about rela­tions between police and minor­i­ty com­mu­ni­ties. No one else in the case has yet to face depart­men­tal charges, and the inter­nal dis­ci­pli­nary review is on hold pend­ing a fed­er­al inquiry, at the request of the U.S. Attorney General for the Eastern District. Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who applied the choke­hold, remains on desk duty. A grand jury refused to indict him on crim­i­nal charges; he has said he was using a legal take­down maneu­ver. But Adonis had been pro­mot­ed to sergeant about two weeks before Garner’s death, and under depart­men­tal pol­i­cy, her pro­ba­tion­ary term would have been up had they not levied charges. She will now remain on pro­ba­tion, until her inter­nal case is com­plet­ed. “The NYPD, in con­sul­ta­tion with the United States Attorney’s office, served the depart­men­tal charges at this time in order to pre­serve the dis­ci­pli­nary statute of lim­i­ta­tions, and all fur­ther pro­ceed­ings con­cern­ing the Garner inquiry will con­tin­ue to be stayed until the con­clu­sion of the fed­er­al inves­ti­ga­tion,” the depart­ment said in a state­ment. Internal charges can lead from loss of vaca­tion days up to dis­missal from the depart­ment. Garner’s fam­i­ly set­tled with the city for $5.9 mil­lion. Sergeant at scene of Eric Garner death dis­ci­plined by NYPD