‘Die-in’: Police chokehold victim Eric Garner's daughter leads Staten Island protest

Eric Garner's daughter staged a 'die-in' at the same spot where her father died. She marched with protesters in the New York City borough of Staten Island on Thursday, expressing her disgust with the court’s ruling not to punish her father’s killer.

“I still feel like I’m in a never ending nightmare,” Eric Garner's daughter, Erica, told Ruptly, reiterating that what happened to her father had sparked nationwide and global protests.

Tonight in Staten Island Erica Garner led people to "die" in the place where her father was killed. #ICantBreathepic.twitter.com/2JchlXqATQ

— Kelly Stuart (@kellystuart) December 12, 2014

“It could be you, everybody could be Eric Garner, there are a lot of Eric Garners out there, a lot of innocent people beaten down by police. I hope these protesters accomplish a lot. I hope it shows people that we’re very passionate about this and that we are not going to stop until we get justice,” Erica Garner said.

Eric #garner daughter Erica staging a die-in at the exact spot her father collapsed pic.twitter.com/hXzsPMKA2Q

— Brynn Gingras (@Brynn4NY) December 11, 2014

The same evening dozens of activists lay down on the ground in a 'die-in' demonstration inside Grand Central Station and Saks department store on Fifth Avenue in New York on Thursday evening, protesting the grand jury’s decision not to prosecute white NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo for causing Eric Garner’s death.

Protesters were chanting, “We Can’t Breathe” and carrying banners saying, “Black lives matter,” “JUSTICE” and “Police Brutality and Murder MUST STOP.”

Nationwide protests are continuing in the US following a grand jury decision to exonerate Pantaleo of any wrongdoing in the death of Eric Garner, a 43-year-old black Staten Island resident, on July 17.

A passer-by, who witnessed the incident, recorded it and uploaded the video online, sparking mass outrage against police brutality.

READ MORE: Protesters decry Eric Garner grand jury vote LIVE UPDATES

The video shows the officer placing Garner in an illegal chokehold, while a group of other officers force Garner to the ground. Garner, who reportedly suffered from asthma, died after repeatedly saying, “I can’t breathe” – a phrase that has become one of the rallying cries of the protests.

Erica Garner held a vigil and “die-in” on Staten Island in memory of her father http://t.co/FiOqYgref3pic.twitter.com/XlMCRF0ztJ

— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) December 12, 2014

Earlier, a Missouri grand jury ruled not to indict a white police officer for the death of Michael Brown, who was shot several times following a confrontation with police in Ferguson, Missouri, despite being unarmed. This decision also ignited mass protests.

READ MORE: Grand juries rarely indict police officers who shoot citizens

In November, a rookie NYPD officer “accidentally” shot and killed an unarmed African-American man in a staircase in a New York apartment block. (https://www.rt.com/usa/207795-police-officer-kill-unarmed/)
Also in late November, law enforcers in Cleveland, Ohio, fatally shot a young boy in the stomach. He had been playing with an air gun.