Daniel Pantaleo the police officer who the grand jury in New York refused to indict in the chokehold death of Eric Garner has released a statement:
|
| Daniel Pantaleo statement on no indictment in Eric Garner case |
|---|
In a statement after the grand jury decision was announced, Pantaleo said: “I became a police officer to help people and to protect those who can’t protect themselves. It is never my intention to harm anyone and I feel very bad about the death of Mr. Garner. My family and I include him and his family in our prayers and I hope that they will accept my personal condolences for their loss.”
This grand jury decision comes 10 days after a Ferguson, Missouri, grand jury announced that it would not indict Darren Wilson, a white police officer, for fatally shooting Michael Brown, a black unarmed teen. That decision led to violent and destructive protests.
The NYPD has been preparing for the grand jury decision. Without revealing exact numbers of police officers that will be on duty, Bratton said the NYPD “will naturally gear up to deal with any potential contingency that might occur.”
“We, as you might expect, are planning accordingly,” Bratton said at a news conference on Tuesday.