Richmond University Medical Center, the hospital that sent paramedics to treat Eric Garner, has agreed to pay his family a settlement of $1 million. Garner’s death was one of many killings of unarmed black men and women that helped spark the Black Lives Matter movement.
Garner died in July 2014, after NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo put him in an illegal chokehold while attempting to arrest Garner for selling cigarettes. A witness videotaped the incident, capturing Garner’s last words: “I can’t breathe.” Although he was struggling for breath, the two EMTs and two paramedics sent by the hospital did little to help Garner, according to the New York Daily News.
“The EMTs did not conduct the appropriate examination [of Garner, and]…failed to provide him with the necessary life-saving procedures,” the court documents read. All four of the emergency responders were temporarily suspended but have since returned to regular duties.
According to BuzzFeed News, even though the New York medical examiner declared his death a homicide, Pantaleo was not indicted by a grand jury.
This payment was separate from the $5.9 million settlement that the Garner family reached with New York City in July.