After an administrative judge on Friday morning recommended the firing of Daniel Pantaleo, the New York City Police Department officer involved in the death of Eric Garner, New York Attorney General Letitia James and other attorneys urged Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill to accept that judgment.

But de Blasio, during a press conference held Friday, declined to say whether a final decision had been made to fire Pantaleo from the NYPD. He said that decision, under state law, will rest with O’Neill.

“We are governed by state law and that’s what the process has been: due process, a trial, a decision by a judge, a final decision by the police commissioner,” de Blasio said.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks about police officer Daniel Pantaleo at a City Hall news conference on Friday. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks about police officer Daniel Pantaleo at a City Hall news conference on Friday. Photo: Mark Lennihan/AP

A spokesman for the NYPD said Friday afternoon that, per the department’s policy, O’Neill hasn’t been given access to the judge’s report just yet. It first has to go to the Civilian Complaint Review Board and Pantaleo, who can make a final comment before it’s shared with O’Neill.

Pantaleo, meanwhile, was suspended from the force Friday, said Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Phillip Walzak.

“All of New York City understandably seeks closure to this difficult chapter in our City’s history,” Walzak said. “Premature statements or judgments before the process is complete however cannot and will not be made.”

It was the first time Pantaleo had been subject to a trial, albeit an administrative one, over the death of Eric Garner, whose last words — “I can’t breathe” — largely inspired the Black Lives Matter Movement.

James, who has closely followed the case in her current role and previously as New York City public advocate, said the recommendation was long overdue. She called on de Blasio and O’Neill to act on the judge’s recommendation as soon as they can.

“For over five years, the Garner family, New Yorkers, and Americans across the country have waited for justice to be served in the death of Eric Garner,” James said. “Today’s recommendation reflects action that should have been taken long ago: Officer Pantaleo should be removed from his position at the NYPD.”

New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who’s also been outspoken on the Garner case, said if Pantaleo remains on the force, any work done by de Blasio and other city officials to reduce tension between the police and communities of color will be lost. The city has implemented a series of changes in recent years toward that goal.

“All of the work done toward better policing in this city is overshadowed if there is no accountability for someone who killed a man on camera. Accept this recommendation, and the refrain echoed for five long years from the streets of this city to the stage in Detroit,” Williams said. “Fire Pantaleo.”

There is no timeline for when that recommendation has to be either accepted or rejected by O’Neill.

Garner died after an interaction with Pantaleo and other officers led to him eventually being put in a choke hold and falling to the ground. Officers were attempting to arrest him for selling loose, or untaxed, cigarettes, in a neighborhood on Staten Island. Garner had initially resisted the arrest, which is when the officers became physical.

A video of the encounter quickly went viral after Garner’s death, during which he can be heard telling officers repeatedly that he couldn’t breath. There was initially a dispute about whether Pantaleo had inappropriately restrained Garner or not.

The New York Civil Liberties Union said Friday that, during the administrative trial, an officer in charge of training recruits testified that she believed Pantaleo had used an illegal choke hold on Garner. Donna Lieberman, NYCLU’s executive direct, said that Pantaleo’s firing shouldn’t only be a punishment against him, it should be an example for other officers.

“When an officer violates their own policies and kills a person they were sworn to protect, it should not take five years for any measure of accountability,” Lieberman said. “If the NYPD wants to rebuild trust with the communities it serves, it must show the city of New York that police officers aren’t above the law.”

The Legal Aid Society said Pantaleo’s suspension on Friday was “good news” but criticized de Blasio for not taking action sooner to remove him from the NYPD. Tina Luongo, attorney-in-charge of the organization’s criminal defense practice, said the situation has been mishandled by city officials since Garner’s death.

“The mayor’s handling of this entire process has been politically motivated and opaque, and it only served to reinforce mistrust and sow further division between the NYPD and over-policed communities of color,” Luongo said. “Any opportunity for justice was lost by unnecessary secrecy and delay.”

Pantaleo, since Garner’s death, had been on desk duty at the NYPD. A grand jury in Staten Island declined to indict him on state criminal charges in 2014, after which federal prosecutors said they would conduct their own probe.

That investigation ended last month, when U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue said during a news conference that his office would not prosecute Pantaleo on federal civil rights charges. Donoghue said at the time that the evidence in the case wasn’t enough to meet the burden they would have to show to convict Pantaleo on civil rights charges.

To do so, they would have had to prove that Pantaleo both used unreasonable force when he placed Garner in a choke hold, and intended to do so. The latter part was especially difficult, Donoghue said.

“Even if we could prove that Officer Pantaleo’s hold of Mr. Garner constituted unreasonable force, we would still have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Pantaleo acted willfully,” Donoghue said.

A request for comment sent to the NYPD on the recommendation Friday was not immediately returned.

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