NY Cop Daniel Pantaleo Who Killed Eric Garner Has Been Fired

In a nutshell, the decision is based on the finding that while Eric Garner was wrong to resist arrest, Pantaleo was wrong to use a prohibitive chokehold on Garner.

From WhoTV.com

The New York police officer accused of fatally choking Eric Garner in 2014 has been dismissed and will not receive his NYPD pension, Commissioner James O’Neill said Monday.

“It is clear that Daniel Pantaleo can no longer effectively serve as a New York police officer,” he said.

Officer Daniel Pantaleo was found guilty in a disciplinary trial earlier this month of using a chokehold on Garner, the New York man whose final words were, “I can’t breathe”.

The departmental administrative judge officially recommended Pantaleo be fired. O’Neill, an officer for 34 years, cited that recommendation repeatedly in his announcement on Monday, but he said it was still not an “easy decision.”

O’Neill said contributions Pantaleo has already made toward his pension will be returned to him.

The decision comes more than five years after police tried to arrest the 43-year-old who was allegedly selling loose cigarettes illegally on Staten Island. In video of the arrest, Pantaleo can be seen wrapping one arm around Garner’s shoulder and the other around his neck before jerking him back and pulling him to the ground.

The departmental disciplinary trial focused on whether Pantaleo used a department-banned chokehold in the arrest.

The city medical examiner’s office ruled Garner’s death a homicide in the days after his death, and the medical examiner testified that Pantaleo’s alleged chokehold caused an asthma attack and was “part of the lethal cascade of events.”

Pantaleo denied that he used the maneuver, but Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado ruled that a chokehold triggered a series of events that culminated with Garner’s death, according to the report, which CNN obtained from a source familiar with the matter.

“Here, (Pantaleo’s) use of a chokehold fell so far short of objective reasonableness that this tribunal found it to be reckless — a gross deviation from the standard of conduct established for a New York City police officer,” Maldonado wrote. “Moreover, (Pantaleo’s) glaring dereliction of responsibility precipitated a tragic outcome.”

Despite the disciplinary trial, Pantaleo has avoided criminal charges in the death. A grand jury in New York declined to indict the officer in 2014, and the city of New York settled with Garner’s estate for $5.9 million in 2015. The Justice Department declined to bring federal civil rights charges last month.

Juan Thompson Sentenced To 5 Years In Federal Prison For Cyberstalking And Making Hoax Bomb Threats

Cross-posted from Stop Cyber Abuse.

“The response by and large is: Ignore it and turn off  your computer,” said Danielle Citron, a University of Maryland law professor and author of “Hate Crimes in Cyberspace.”

Law enforcement must realize that there is a difference between internet trolls and cyberstalkers.  When trolls are ignored, they generally go elsewhere and find someone else to hassle.  They generally don’t have personal hatred and retribution against those they troll. Trolls generally have no personal knowledge of those they troll.

Cyberstalkers are different.  What they do is intended to cause harm in the personal lives of their target victims and some extend that harm to the family of target victims.  They have usually been friends or another type of acquaintance.  When they are ignored, they find another way to get their target’s attention.   If their overall intent is to destroy their victim’s life, they continue and progress in their course of conduct.

As this case demonstrates, when they think that they will not be arrested, they eventually do something so outrageous that it goes beyond cyberstalking.

Juan Thompson

The convicted perpetrator in this case used actions to conduct his cyberstalking that cannot be explained in summary.  In other words, this post is going to be longer than usual.  There are two main sources I use for this post.  The Department of Justice’s press release gives details of illegal actions leading to arrest.  The other source is the Seattle Times that published an interview with the victim, Francesca Rossi.

Juan Thompson, 31, of St. Louis, was employed as a journalist by The Intercept from November 2014 until January 2016.  Thompson was fired for fabricating sources and quotes in stories.

In late 2014, Francesca met Juan on an online dating site.  She worked as a social worker.  They bonded over their commitment for reform.  In the Spring of 2015, Juan moved into Francesca’s Brooklyn apartment.

Francesca started getting harassing texts from ex-boyfriends. The wife of an ex-boyfriend said she sued Francesca, accusing her of giving the ex-boyfriend a sexually transmitted disease.  The lawsuit turned out to be a hoax.  Then Francesca found a nude picture of herself online.

Francesca contacted Carrie Goldberg, a lawyer that specializes in online harassment.  Attorney Goldberg quickly figured out that only one person was behind the harassment.  Juan had been posing as Francesca’s ex-boyfriends for months.  Francesca believed that he was trying to make her feel bad so he could intimidate and control her.  (Known fact; Stalkers often create conditions to cause their target victims to feel they need them to resolve or for comfort.)