Report: DOJ divided over filing civil rights charges against Eric Garner cop

A still from a YouTube video shows Eric Garner being taken to the ground by Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo. (File)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Federal prosecutors have recently recommended that civil rights charges be brought against the officer involved in Eric Garner's death, but other Department of Justice (DOJ) officials are hesitant about proceeding with the case, according to a New York Times report.

Garner, 43, died in police custody on July 17, 2014 in Tompkinsville. Officer Daniel Pantaleo is seen in a video with his arm around Garner's neck while wrestling him to the ground across from Tompkinsville Park.

Garner repeatedly screamed "I can't breathe" on the video.

Prosecutors tried getting approval from Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein to seek an indictment, the report said. The Times reported Rosenstein held several meetings within the DOJ, but they could not agree whether to move forward.

No decision has been made, but a source told the Times it appeared unlikely Pantaleo would be charged.

Pantaleo's attorney, Stuart London, could not immediately be reached Friday.

"If the Trump administration's Justice Department doesn't hold NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaelo and others who killed my son accountable by prosecution and conviction, then they are failing to uphold law-and-order for the sake of politics," said Garner's mother, Gwen Carr, in a statement.

Last June, members of the Garner family and Rev. Al Sharpton met with DOJ officials in Brooklyn about the status of the case.

Officials informed them that they are taking the case seriously, but did not give the family a sense of why it was taking so long or when the investigation will conclude, Sharpton told the media during a press conference after the meeting.

The family was hoping to get news of an indictment, but were left disappointed.

"DOJ officials told me and my family last summer that there would be a final decision by the end of 2017 - it's outrageous that now they're reporting that they're still deciding through the media without reaching out to me at all," Carr said. "This isn't news, they're playing political games with the murder of my son."

Two years ago, the DOJ in Washington, D.C. took over the investigation after Brooklyn federal prosecutors and FBI agents nixed the idea of pursuing federal charges against Pantaleo and other members of the force who were involved in the incident.

The DOJ had reportedly wanted to have charges brought against one or more of the officers.

In 2014, a Staten Island grand jury declined to indict Pantaleo for his role in Garner's death during his arrest for selling loose, untaxed cigarettes.

"It's been nearly four years and there still is no justice - it's unacceptable," Carr said. "It's beyond time for Pantaleo and other officers to be prosecuted by DOJ, and Mayor de Blasio and the NYPD also need to stop playing politics by hiding behind the Trump administration, and fire Pantaleo and all officers responsible for murdering Eric and related misconduct."

De Blasio said the family has waited long enough for a decision on this case.

"After almost four years of deliberation, and with the NYPD long ready to proceed with its disciplinary process, we once again urge the Department of Justice to show some level of decency to the Garner family and make its decision," the mayor said in a statement.

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