The death of Eric Garner, a father of six and grandfather of two, has shocked the nation. Cellphone footage caught a NYPD police officer put Garner in a chokehold, which is against departmental policy. Garner is heard saying, “I can’t breathe” eleven times before he dies in the chokehold. The officers involved have been disciplined while an Internal Affairs investigation takes place. But now the New York Daily News has obtained an internal police report that seems to indicate an attempted cover-up was already starting.
In the internal report, NYPD supervisors fail to state that Garner was placed in a prohibited chokehold and also paint an image of Garner that conflict with the video footage. NYPD Sgt. Dhanan Saminath told interviewers that officers were “maintaining control of him” and Garner “did not appear to be in great distress.” Another supervisor Sgt. Kitty Adonis is quoted as saying that “the perpetrator’s condition did not seem serious and that he did not appear to get worse.”
Clearly evident in the video is a violent takedown of Garner and at least six officers violently jumping on Garner and slamming his head and shoulders into the concrete while a chokehold is applied. After Garner lies lifeless on the ground, paramedics arrive on the scene and do not attempt to render any aid. One EMT can be scene feeling Garner’s neck for a pulse and that was the extent of assistance. There is now an ongoing investigation against EMTs Nicole Palmeri and Stephanie Greenberg and another two unidentified EMTs.
