It was a "difficult decision" to fire Danny Pantaleo, the New York City Police officer who put Eric Garner in a deadly chokehold, but it had to be done, Police Commissioner James O'Neill said Thursday.
"I was a uniformed cop for 34 years," O'Neill told "CBS Morning News." "Danny Pantaleo was right where we told him to be. The lieutenant sent him there."
But based on the evidence, and the testimony from officials, "that was the decision I made and it had to be made," said O'Neill.
The NYPD has come under fire for taking five years to make a decision on Pantaleo, but first, a grand jury from Staten Island did not indict him, and then the U.S. Department of Justice "asks us to hold off," the commissioner added.
There were many possible outcomes, O'Neill said, but his job is to keep the city and police department safe.
"My message is there's accountability in the NYPD," he said. "That's the message."
The city's police union has condemned O'Neill's decision, but he said he's fine with that because "my skin was very thin when I started this job 3 years ago. It's not so thin anymore."
He also denied that Mayor Bill de Blasio made him fire Pantaleo.
"This is my decision," O'Neill said. "I do have a boss but I get final say on disciplinary matters."
Meanwhile, there were other officers shown during the Garner death, but O'Neill said, "this is where it ends," when it comes to any action to be taken on them.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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