US: Daughter of police victim declared brain dead

By Safvan Allahverdi

WASHINGTON (AA) – A prominent civil rights activist whose father was killed by a New York City police officer was declared brain dead early Thursday with no chance of recovery.

Anti-police brutality activist Erica Garner, 27, suffered brain damage from a lack of oxygen after an asthma attack triggered a heart attack Saturday, the New York Daily News reported.

She has been in a coma since then, it said.

Family members rushed to Woodhull Hospital in Queens to say their final goodbyes to Garner, who became an outspoken critic of police brutality after her father’s death in 2014.

Eric Garner was killed by a New York City police officer accused of using an unjustified and unlawful chokehold.

But a grand jury in New York declined to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who used the chokehold while attempting to arrest Garner for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes outside a Staten Island store.

Public reaction to Garner's death contributed to mounting national outrage against police brutality and helped foment the Black Lives Matter movement.

Massive protests were held across the country to register anger over the grand jury’s decision not to charge a white police officer in the death of an unarmed black man.

Protesters converged on busy streets, blocking traffic, and staged die-ins, carried mock coffins and chanted “I can’t breathe” -- Garner’s last words before he died.

It also pushed Erica Garner into activism. She became a prominent civil rights leader and met former U.S. President Barack Obama in 2016.