New York City settles with Eric Garner's family for $5.9 million

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The family of Eric Garner, the unarmed black man who died after being placed in a chokehold by police, has reached a settlement with New York City for $5.9 million.

The family filed a notice of claim, the first step in filing a lawsuit against the city, in October, asking for $75 million, The Associated Press reports. Last July, police stopped Garner outside of a store on Staten Island for selling loose cigarettes, and a bystander captured on video officers taking Garner down to the ground in what an officer later said was a legal maneuver known as a "seatbelt." Garner was asthmatic, and was heard saying, "I can't breathe" 11 times before he lost consciousness. He was then taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.