New York City has settled the Eric Garner case with his family, USA Today reports. On Monday (July 13), the decision was made to pay the family a sum of $5.9 million, though the family originally sued for $75 million. The family rejected a payout of $5 million last week and the city has until July 17th, the one year anniversary of Garner’s death, to settle the case before the family filed a lawsuit.
The Garner family will be leading a rally on Saturday (July 18) in front of the Brooklyn office of the U.S Attorney in efforts to call for a federal case to be brought against the officers involved in Garner’s death.
Garner was killed on July 17th, 2014 after NYPD officer David Pantaleo put him in an illegal chokehold while other officers wrestled him to the ground. Garner repeated ” I can’t breathe” as officers restrained him but his pleas for help were ignored. His death was ruled a homicide by a medical examiner but a Staten Island jury refused to indict officer Pantaleo.