Activist Erica Garner tragically died at age 27 in recent weeks, but it appears that she left something behind: a tape of the Department of Justice discussing the death of her father, police brutality victim Eric Garner.
A video posted on Erica Garner’s Twitter account shows members of the Department of Justice sitting at a table, speaking with what appears to be members of Garner’s family.
In the four-minute video, a rep from the Department of Justice said they expected to deliver a decision within “the next several months,” adding that the case shouldn’t last into 2018. Other reports said that the meeting between Erica Garner and the department was in June 2017, while federal investigators were looking into her father’s death.
A member of the family asks if the Department of Justice is investigating the officers, or investigating “the victim,” which was Eric Garner himself. A rep said they were looking into the use of department’s use of force, but didn’t respond to whether the investigation was about one officer or multiple officers.
Despite the Department of Justice’s comments in the video, the investigation still hasn’t prompted a decision yet.
“The question y’all should be asking is why didn’t she release this video while she was still here …” the account tweeted. Garner’s mother, Snipes, has been known to deliver messages from the account on her daughter’s behalf. “If anyone wants to know, I have the receipts and willing to share with an outlet that will report it right.”
Erica Garner’s father, Eric Garner, died after an encounter with police in 2014. Video footage showed NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo placing him in a chokehold while he and other officers were arresting him under suspicion of selling illegal cigarettes. Garner, who suffered from asthma, died, with the medical examiner’s office ruling it a homicide.
He repeated “I can’t breathe” to police nearly a dozen times as they were arresting him. The incident was caught on video, and his dying words became a rallying cry for activists protesting police brutality.
After her father’s death, Erica Garner became an activist herself, leading a nationwide campaign to fight police brutality. She continued to lead and protest until late December, when she had an asthma attack. The asthma attack triggered a heart attack, which left her with serious brain damage. She died in early January, with her funeral in Harlem, New York attracting rapper/actor Common, Al Sharpton, and hundreds of supporters.