The nation’s top law-enforcement official took the unusual step Friday of personally weighing in on the death of a Staten Island man taken down by an NYPD cop using a banned chokehold.
“In the aftermath of this tragic event, Justice Department officials have been in touch with [victim Eric] Garner’s family members. We are closely monitoring the city’s investigation into the incident,” US Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.
Garner , a married father of six, died on a Staten Island street on July 17 after a violent takedown by police that was captured on cellphone videos. Police had suspected him of illegally selling loose cigarettes.
His death has come under mounting scrutiny because of the inflammatory footage, which also shows cops and EMTs apparently doing little to aid him when he lost consciousness.
Holder involved himself in what would normally be a local case hours after the Rev. Al Sharpton and several of Garner’s survivors met with federal prosecutors in Brooklyn.
The family wants a federal civil-rights investigation.
Sharpton cited the videos that showed the 350-pound Garner, 43, repeatedly shouting “I can’t breathe” when Officer Daniel Pantaleo wrapped his arm around Garner’s neck.
Sharpton claimed cops violated Garner’s rights by using excessive force and failing to give him proper medical care.
Authorities are still waiting for the results of an autopsy to determine the cause of Garner’s death.
A spokesman for Brooklyn US Attorney Loretta Lynch said the chief of her office’s criminal division, James McGovern, and the chief of civil rights, Taryn Merkl, met with Sharpton for about a half hour.
Speaking with Garner’s mother, widow and a daughter by his side, Sharpton raised the memory of Abner Louima, the Haitian immigrant who was brutally assaulted by a cop, Justin Volpe, in 1997.
“We’ve come where we came successfully with Louima and we intend, with dignity but determination, to win this case so that this does not happen again,” Sharpton said.
Meanwhile, another NYPD cop was placed on desk duty after he was caught on video stepping on a drug suspect’s head Tuesday night in Bed-Stuy.
Additional reporting by Kevin Fasick