NEW YORK, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Daniel Pantaleo, the New York City police officer who caused the chokehold death of an unarmed black man five years ago, was fired, commissioner of the New York Police Department (NYPD) James O'Neill said on Monday.
It came weeks after an administrative judge recommended Pantaleo, who had been with the NYPD since 2006, be fired. Pantaleo was suspended shortly after the recommendation.
In July, federal prosecutors dropped criminal charges against the officer, saying there was insufficient evidence of him breaking the law or violating the civil rights of Eric Garner, who was selling loose, untaxed cigarettes in the borough of Staten Island on July 17, 2014 before his deadly encounter with the officer.
The commissioner expressed his mixed feelings while announcing the decision at a press conference on Monday.
"Had I been in officer Pantaleo's situation I may have similar mistakes," O'Neill said. "I would have wished I had released my grip before it became a chokehold."
Garner's death once catalyzed a nationwide Black Lives Matter movement denouncing police brutality and racial discrimination at a time when several unarmed African Americans had been killed by police across the country.
Emerald Snipes Garner, one of Eric Garner's daughter, thanked Commissioner O'Neill on Monday at the Harlem headquarters of the National Action Network in New York.
"I truly, sincerely thank you for firing the officer," she said. "We can't talk about what happened in the past. We can only talk what we're going to do."
On the other side, police unions, who had voiced strong opposition toward the possible termination of Pantaleo since the recommendation was given, blasted Monday's decision.
Patrick Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association of New York City, said that O'Neill has "chosen politics and his own self-interest over the police officers he claims to lead."
"The NYPD will remain rudderless and frozen and Commissioner O'Neill will never be able to bring it back," he said in a statement on Monday.
