Eric Garner’s family and advocates for police accountability are demanding justice and transparency from Mayor Bill de Blasio and the NYPD.

Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner, and Ellisha Flagg Garner, sister of Eric Garner, along with The Legal Aid Society, Communities United for Police Reform (CPR), Justice Committee, the New York Law School Racial Justice Project, Gideon Oliver and others announced the filing of a petition to New York Supreme Court demanding a judicial inquiry into the violation and neglect of duty by the Mayor, NYPD Commissioner O’Neill and others related to the unjust killing of Eric Garner, the cover-up that continues to this day, and the related failure to discipline officers for misconduct in a meaningful or timely manner.

“In a public trial room, a judge decided that a man committed a crime, put very plainly. A crime is not just a work violation, Pantaleo and the other officers didn’t iron their uniform wrong or forget some paperwork; a crime is something that offends not just the employer but the public,” said LAS attorney Cynthia Conti-Cook. “Pantaleo committed an assault on Eric Garner and on us all. Yet unlike any other man or woman who commits a crime, the public, the family and the press were deprived of meaningful public access. Unlike any other trial of a crime, we can’t get the transcript, the decisions made in the course of the trial, the exhibits that were used in trial, most importantly Pantaleo’s GO-15 statement. So we’re here today to demand access to the trial transcript, the exhibits and many other materials used in the investigation and trial of Pantaleo because justice must be seen to be done. It is not enough to get the right result, the public has a right to watch its public servants make decisions on our behalf.”

“For the last five years, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the NYPD have avoided any true measure of transparency relative to the investigation into Eric Garner’s killing, and most recently, Officer Daniel Pantaleo’s administrative trial,” added Tina Luongo, Attorney-In-Charge of The Legal Aid Society’s Criminal Defense Practice. “It sincerely unfortunate that we have to litigate for basic transparency and answers but we are ready to do so on behalf of the Garner family and those communities historically plagued by police brutality.”

Specifically, the new filing calls for a judicial inquiry into the following violations:

• Violations and neglect of duties in connection with the stop and arrest of Mr. Garner and the force used by officers on Mr. Garner;
• Violations and neglect of duties concerning the failure, subsequent to Mr. Garner’s death, to train NYPD officers adequately on appropriate guidelines on the use of force and the prohibition on the use of chokeholds;
• Violations and neglect of duties in connection with filing false official NYPD documents concerning Mr. Garner’s arrest and making false statements in connection with the NYPD’s internal investigation of Mr. Garner’s death;
• Violations and neglect of duties concerning the unlawful leaking of Mr. Garner’s alleged arrest history and the unlawful leaking of Mr. Garner’s alleged medical history;
• Violations and neglect of duties in connection with incomplete and inaccurate statements to the media by the City concerning the July 17, 2014 stop and arrest of Mr. Garner;
• Violations and neglect of duties in connection with the medical care provided to Mr. Garner; and
• Violations and neglect of duties concerning the City’s investigation and adjudication of, and imposition of discipline for, the aforementioned violations and neglect of duties, including (for example) false statements by NYPD officers concerning Mr. Garner’s arrest.