NYPD Put Man, Eric Garner, In A Choke Hold, Killing Him After He Broke Up A Fight [Video/Pics]

Video inside

43-year old Eric Garner was a married father of six with two grandchildren. He died Thursday, July 17, after being put in a choke hold and held down by at least five NYPD officers.

According to the New York Daily News, cops approached Garner after they say he was seen selling untaxed cigarettes on a Staten Island street. Garner denied the accusation and was backed up by witness Ramsey Orta, who filmed the incident.

“I didn’t do sh*t!” Garner told the officers from the 120th Precinct when they approached him. “I was just minding my own business. Every time you see me you want to mess with me. I’m tired of it. It stops today!”

Ramsey Orta

Orta says Garner had just broken up a fight between three men prior to police arriving on the scene and was not selling cigarettes.

“They jumped him and they were choking him. He was foaming at the mouth,” Orta told The News. “And that’s it, he was done. The cops were saying, ‘No, he’s OK, he’s OK.” He wasn’t OK.”

Cops soon swarmed Garner, putting him in a choke hold and forcing him to the ground. The 400-pound man tells them "I can't breathe" nine times. He was not armed at the time.

Garner later died at the hospital. His wife, Esaw, told the New York Daily News that the NYPD killed her husband for no reason.

“When I kissed my husband this morning, I never thought it would be for the last time,” she said.. “I saw him with his eyes wide open and I said, ‘Babe, don’t leave me, I need you.’ But he was already gone, They’re covering their asses, he was breaking up a fight. They harassed and harassed my husband until they killed him,”

Eric Garner's family (L-R) son Eric, 18, daughter, Erica, 24, daughter Emerald, 22, wife Esaw, mother Gwen Carr and son Emery, 14.

NYPD Internal Affairs has launched an investigation into the incident. Watch the video below and let us know your opinion.

Story and photo source: New York Daily News and Sam Costanza