Army officer allegedly assaulted by Virginia police is related to Eric Garner

Protest on anniversary of Eric Garner&#039;s death.

(Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

published 14 April 2021

U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Caron Nazario has filed a lawsuit alleging two Virginia police officers violated his constitutional rights and assaulted him following a traffic stop in December.

As it turns out, the 27-year-old Nazario, who is Black and Latino, was related to Eric Garner, the Black man who died in Staten Island in 2014 after an officer placed him a chokehold. Garner's last words were, infamously, "I can't breathe."

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After Garner's death, their mutual cousin told Nazario the news and reportedly reminded him that if he was ever confronted by a police officer, he needed to "stay calm, comply, never make them feel threatened," the Post writes. As footage captured by Nazario's phone and the officers' body cameras suggests, Nazario did just that during the arrest despite the escalating situation. Carr told the Post she believes that composure and Nazario's decision to drive to a well-lit area, while unable to spare him from drawn guns and pepper spray, kept him alive. Read more at The Washington Post.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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