Social justice activist Erica Garner dies following heart attack
Her father, Eric Garner, died in 2014 after being put in a chokehold by a police officer
Adapted from a story by The Washington Post’s Eli Rosenberg.
Social justice activist. Fighter. Mother. Daughter. Sister. Aunt.
These are the ways Erica Garner’s family and friends want the world to remember her. Garner, 27, died on Saturday after suffering significant brain damage following a heart attack, representatives said. Her death was confirmed by a statement on her verified Twitter account.
Erica Garner came to prominence when her father, Eric Garner, died in 2014 after being put in a chokehold by a New York City police officer. Protesters across the country repeated her father’s final words: “I can’t breathe.”
Garner had been in a coma since last Saturday, when she suffered a heart attack, according to local news reports and her Twitter account. A CT scan showed that Garner, who was being treated at a hospital in Brooklyn, suffered “major brain damage from a lack of oxygen while in cardiac arrest.”
She had given birth to her son about four months ago, her mother, Esaw Snipes, told the New York Times. It wasn’t until during her pregnancy that Garner learned she had heart problems.
Since Garner went into a coma, friends and family have taken to using her Twitter account to deliver updates on her medical condition.
Eric Garner died on Staten Island in July 2014, after being put in a chokehold by police officer Daniel Pantaleo. Pantaleo had been in the process of arresting Garner on the suspicion that he was selling loose cigarettes. The video of the encounter traveled around the world. A Staten Island grand jury declined to indict Pantaleo in 2014; the officer remains on modified duty. A Justice Department probe into Garner’s death has yet to conclude.
His eldest daughter, Erica Garner, used her prominence after his death to speak out against police abuse. She criticized New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and took President Barack Obama to task.
Garner endorsed Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders for president, and she campaigned for the senator from Vermont.
Sanders posted a statement on Twitter in response to this morning’s news.
