A high-profile police brutality case in New York ignited protests across the U.S. on Wednesday after a grand jury decided not to indict an NYPD officer in the chokehold death of Eric Garner.
Garner, a 43-year-old black man, died after Officer Daniel Pantaleo placed him in a chokehold and other officers pinned him to the ground in Staten Island. Garner lost consciousness and later died. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide.
The Staten Island grand jury's decision ignited a string of protests across New York City, which quickly spread to other cities in the U.S.
Protesters shouted "I can't breathe" -- a reference to Garner's pleas to the police who pinned him to the ground -- as they gathered in New York's Grand Central Station. His case achieved national attention after a video of the incident widely circulated online.
Demonstrations took to the streets in Seattle, Oakland, California, and Atlanta, among other cities. Activists staged "die-ins" and called for police reform. Earlier this week, President Obama said the string of high-profile incidents -- Garner, Michael Brown of Ferguson and 12-year-old Tamir Rice to name a few -- has highlighted a "simmering distrust" that exists between police departments and communities of color.
The Garner decision comes on the heels of the high profile Ferguson decision not to indict another white police officer in the shooting death of 18-year-old Brown. Violent protests spiraled out of control in Ferguson following the decision to not indict the officer, in a night of riots that destroyed 12 local businesses.
Obama has requested $263 million in emergency funding for community policing reforms that will include distribution of body cameras to local police department.
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