The police officer who killed Eric Garner in 2014 was fired on Monday, and now sources say the police sergeant who looked on as Garner was killed will be punished by losing 20 vacation days.
According to the Root, Sgt. Kizzy Adonis had been recently promoted to the rank of sergeant and was only assigned her role at the Staten Island precinct on July 9, less than a week before Garner was killed on July 17. The same cellphone footage that showed Garner being held in an illegal chokehold by Daniel Pantaleo as he repeated “I can’t breathe” 11 times also shows Adonis standing on the sidelines and overseeing the arrest.
The NYPD source told the Staten Island Advance that Adonis pled guilty to failure to supervise the officers who were involved in Garner’s death. Earlier this week Mayor Bill De Blasio and Police Commissioner James O’Neill said there would be a public trial for Adonis which would conclude by the end of the year. However, because she pled guilty, no such trial will occur.
This is especially upsetting for those who continue to demand justice, as Adonis’ punishment for her admitted failure to supervise is losing just under three weeks of vacation: 20 days. In a statement, Gwen Carr, Garner’s mother, expressed outrage and disgust. “The NYPD continue to show that they don’t care about the murder of my son or Black lives,” Carr said. “It’s disgraceful that they waited more than 5 years until after Pantaleo was fired to cut her a deal so that all she’s facing is losing some vacation days and they want us to accept these crumbs as if there is some justice.”
Rev. Al Sharpton, who has been a vocal supporter of Garner’s family in their fight for justice, also issued a statement decrying the weak disciplinary action. “The loss of vacation days is akin to no penalty at all,” Sharpton said. “If the penalty for not doing your job is that you can keep doing your job, it is an injustice to the family of Eric Garner and the residents of New York City.”
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H/T the Root