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Disciplinary trial to proceed for officer accused in chokehold death of Eric Garner

"I can't breathe" became a popular rallying call for portests against police brutatlity after a video of Eric Garner circulated yelling that. Photo: Epics/Getty Images

A New York City judge ruled on Thursday that a disciplinary trial for the white police officer — accused of using a chokehold that led to unarmed black man Eric Garner's death in 2014 — can take place on Monday, May 13, reports the AP.

Why it matters: The end of Garner's life, and his final words: “I can’t breathe,” became a symbolic slogan within the Black Lives Matter movement and the ongoing debate over police brutality.

The backdrop: Officer Daniel Pantaleo has been accused of choking Garner on Staten Island where he was stopped for allegedly selling loose cigarettes, per the New York Times. Pantaleo was cleared of a criminal conviction and has been on desk-duty since the incident. Garner's family did receive a $5.9 million settlement from the City of New York, per MSNBC.

The New York City Police Department spent $35 million to retrain officers to discontinue the use of strangleholds since the incident. Chokehold reports have declined gradually in the 5 years since Garner’s death, when they peaked at 244 allegations. But complaints persist regarding officers using the forceful tactic, the New York Times reports. Only some of the officers involved in these complaints of misconduct have been disciplined, and to date, no one has been fired, per the New York Times.

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CIA Director Gina Haspel. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

CIA Director Gina Haspel threatened to resign in early December after President Trump cooked up a hasty plan to install loyalist Kash Patel, a former aide to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), as her deputy, according to three senior administration officials with direct knowledge of the matter.

Why it matters: The revelation stunned national security officials and almost blew up the leadership of the world's most powerful spy agency. Only a series of coincidences — and last minute interventions from Vice President Mike Pence and White House counsel Pat Cipollone — stopped it.

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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

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John Weaver aboard John McCain's campaign plane in February 2000. Photo: Robert Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

John Weaver, a veteran Republican operative who co-founded the Lincoln Project, declared in a statement to Axios on Friday that he sent “inappropriate,” sexually charged messages to multiple men.

  • “To the men I made uncomfortable through my messages that I viewed as consensual mutual conversations at the time: I am truly sorry. They were inappropriate and it was because of my failings that this discomfort was brought on you,” Weaver said.
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