Eric Garner

American citizen

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July 21, 2026

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Eric Garner was an American citizen who died in July 2014 after being arrested by New York City police for selling loose cigarettes. In a video of the incident, officers are seen forcing Garner to the ground, with one officer placing him in an illegal chokehold. Garner repeatedly stated, "I can't breathe," before losing consciousness and subsequently dying. The officer involved was fired, but the incident, like others involving police brutality, fueled the Black Lives Matter movement, which advocates against racism and violence, particularly police brutality against Black people.12

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American civil rights movement
Black Lives Matter, Shelby County v. Holder, and Louisiana v. Callais
…Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York, in 2014, as well as that of Freddie Gray in Baltimore in 2015, prompted widespread protest. The fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black teenager, in Sanford, Florida, in February 2012, by George Zimmerman, a neighbourhood watch…
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…Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York, in 2014, as well as that of Freddie Gray in Baltimore in 2015, prompted widespread protest. The fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black teenager, in Sanford, Florida, in February 2012, by George Zimmerman, a neighbourhood watch…
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Bystander Video
A History: Eric Garner
In July 2014 New York City police approached 43-year-old Eric Garner on a city street and accused him of selling loose cigarettes. It was the second time in a month that police had accused Garner of illegal sales. In a video shot by…
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In July 2014 New York City police approached 43-year-old Eric Garner on a city street and accused him of selling loose cigarettes. It was the second time in a month that police had accused Garner of illegal sales. In a video shot by…
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Rodney King
Other incidents of police brutality
…of police brutality that followed:
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…of police brutality that followed:
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