This past Wednesday, a Staten Island grand jury declined to indict New York City police officer Daniel Pantaleo in the chokehold case that lead to Eric Garner's death. Garner, 43, was an unarmed black man, and Pantaleo, 29, walked free on the premise that there was not enough evidence to go forward with charges. This decision has since sparked a wave of protests and has drawn condemnation from elected officials.

According to the New York Times, Pantaleo testified in court on November 21 that he did not intend to choke Garner, who was being arrested for allegedly selling loose cigarettes. He described the chokehold as a take-down move, and added that he never thought Garner would be in mortal danger. At the time, Pantaleo had served the police force for a total of eight years.

Nonetheless, Pantaleo's claims infuriated the public. The grand jury's decision came barely a week after a grand jury declined to indict Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown. Brown was an unarmed 18-year-old black man from Ferguson, Missouri, and the similarities between his and Garner's case ran too high for many people's likings.

Pantaleo has since apologized for killing Garner, and has said that he feels "very bad about the death of Mr. Garner." However, three videos of the encounter between the two men show Pantaleo choking Garner while he gasped, "I can't breathe, I can't breathe." Garner's widow, Esaw Garner, declared that she would not accept Pantaleo's apology, stating, "Hell, no...The time for remorse for the death of my husband was when he was yelling to breathe."

Protests have erupted from Tompkinsville to Times Square, and have also been staged in Manhattan and Washington. President Obama has since spoken about the case, stating, "When anybody in this country is not being treated equally under the law, that is a problem, and it's my job as president to help solve it." Attorney General Eric Holder has also announced that the Justice Department would conduct an "independent, thorough, fair, and expeditious" federal civil rights investigation into Garner's death.