It wasn’t a chokehold, which was one of the reasons the grand jury found no bill. It was a headlock, to get Garner off of the other cop he was attacking. He was released as soon as they pulled him down and then cuffed, which was when (because of his weight, asthma and pre-existing heart problems) he started having breathing problems. They called for help, and the ambulance was there within 4 minutes.
If the cop said that it wasn’t a choke hold, that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t, as no one - except God - should be believed without question.
I listened to former cops, former prosecutors on the major cable news networks. I noticed it was said that if breathing is constricted, then it is a chokehold.
Thank you livius. People who couldn’t get much mileage out of the Michael Unarmed Teen Brown case here at a conservative site, are latching on to the Garner case, again, ignoring the facts, in order to try to do what they couldn’t with the Brown case.