Thousands to march against ‘chokehold’ death in New York City

Thousands of Americans plan to march in New York City on Saturday to denounce police brutality and to protest the death of an unarmed black man who was placed in a “chokehold” by a white police officer.

The protest will begin at the street where Eric Garner was placed in a fatal chokehold by New York Police Department (NYPD) officer Daniel Pantaleo and culminate with a rally at the office of Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan.

The march will be led by the National Action Network, a civil rights organization founded by the Reverend Al Sharpton, who has repeatedly called Garner’s death — and the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown by police in Ferguson, Missouri — a “defining moment” in US history.

African-Americans and other minorities in New York City, the nation’s largest city, say they feel unfairly targeted by police for suspicion of crime.

“No police officer has the right to be an arresting officer, a judge, a jury, or an executioner for anyone,” Staten Island resident Michael Price told CBS News ahead of the march.

The march is expected to draw about 3,000 people, including the family of Michael Brown, the 18-year-old unarmed black teen shot dead by white cops two weeks ago in Ferguson, Missouri.

Garner, a 43-year-old father of six, suffered from asthma and was unarmed when he was stopped by police on July 17 in Staten Island for allegedly selling loose cigarettes.

After resisting arrest, Garner was placed in a chokehold — an illegal tactic — by white NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo and can be heard, in a cellphone video, screaming “I can’t breathe!” several times as he was forced to the ground and handcuffed.

The confrontation led to his death a short time later. The city medical examiner ruled the death a homicide and NYPD officers Pantaleo and Justin Damico have been reassigned during the investigation.

Sharpton and other activists have demanded that Donovan, the district attorney, bring criminal charges against the officers and have called for the US Justice Department to step in.

The shooting death of Brown by Ferguson city police officer Darren Wilson on August 9 has also sparked outrage and protests across the nation, including nightly protests in Ferguson. Civil rights activists say Brown’s death followed years of police targeting blacks.