No charges against New York cop in case that sparked mass race protests

The New York police officer whose attempted arrest of Eric Garner in 2014 led to the man's death and fuelled the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement will not face federal criminal charges for his actions, a source familiar with the decision said Tuesday.

Garner's death during an arrest for allegedly selling loose cigarettes and his gasped final words "I can't breathe" caught on bystander video played a key role in the rise of the movement decrying excessive use of force by police officers against black men and teens in the US.

Wednesday will mark five years since the incident. A New York grand jury in 2014 declined the charge the officer involved, Daniel Pantaleo, who has been assigned to desk duty since Garner's death and faced a disciplinary trial in May at the New York City police department headquarters.

Federal prosecutors in the city's Brooklyn borough have scheduled a press conference for later in the day after meeting with Garner's family.

A spokesperson for the federal prosecutor's office in Brooklyn declined to comment on the report ahead of the news briefing. A spokesperson for New York's Police Benevolent Association union declined to immediately comment on the news.

Medical experts have determined Garner's death was a homicide induced by "compression of neck (choke hold), compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police".

Pantaleo's lawyers have argued he did not use a chokehold, but instead used an authorised "seatbelt" hold that slipped as Garner struggled, and that the officer did not cause Garner's death.

The incident, and other high-profile police killings of black men and teens in cities including Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore, set off a wave of nationwide protests in 2014 and 2015. 

Reuters