NYC cops choke man to death for allegedly selling unlicensed cigarettes

Eric Garner, 43, said he was just breaking up a fight. New York Police Department officers said he was selling untaxed cigarettes and tried to arrest him. When he refused to cooperate, police jumped on the 400-pound Staten Island man, put him in a chokehold, and forced him to the sidewalk. He complained loudly that he couldn’t breathe as a pack of police kept him held down. Then, according to the police, he went into cardiac arrest and died at Richmond University Medical Center.

The arrest was caught on video and has been posted by New York Daily News, who also spoke to Garner’s wife. She and family members claimed he didn’t have any cigarettes on him at the time of his arrest.