Eric Holder announces Justice Department's investigation into death of Eric Garner

The Justice Department is going to look into the death of Eric Garner in the wake of the grand jury’s decision.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced on Wednesday that the Justice Department will conduct a probe into whether Garner’s civil rights were violated, according to Fox News. Garner was put in a chokehold maneuver by a white NYPD officer, where he said he couldn’t breathe multiple times. Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York, had been told about the federal investigation.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the Justice Department had investigated similar outcomes in other cases involving civil rights when a prosecutor decided to not charge suspected civil rights offenders. The chokehold maneuver isn’t allowed in NYPD regulations, which could help make a case for the Justice Department’s prosecutors.

The LA Times also reported that Holder mentioned the video that caught the NYPD officer catching Garner in a chokehold, saying the death of Garner was “a tragedy.”

The Celebrity Café reported that a grand jury on Wednesday decided not to indict NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo, the officer who used the maneuver on Garner. It also comes off of another similar incident and jury decision in Ferguson, Missouri.