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Ex-NYPD Cop Daniel Pantaleo Sues Over ‘Arbitrary’ Firing After Eric Garner’s Death

Pantaleo is suing the department, the city, and Police Commissioner James O’Neill.

Former New York City Police Department officer Daniel Pantaleo sued the police department, the city, and Police Commissioner James O’Neill on Wednesday over his firing. According to the New York Post, Pantaleo’s suit, filed in Manhattan civil court, alleges that his dismissal from the force after Eric Garner died during his arrest was “arbitrary and capricious.” Pantaleo was fired in August after he was found guilty by the Civilian Complaint Review Board of using a banned chokehold on Garner. Garner was heard yelling “I can’t breathe” multiple times in video footage of the arrest, and the city medical examiner concluded that Pantaleo’s chokehold triggered Garner’s death. O'Neill subsequently announced that Pantaleo could “no longer effectively serve” as a NYPD cop, and he was fired without the ability to collect a pension.