Sergeant Kizzy Adonis, of Staten Island’s 120th Precinct, who was present when Eric Garner died after being put in an illegal chokehold by an officer, was put on modified duty on Friday as part of an NYPD internal review of the July 2014 incident. Adonis has been removed from street enforcement and was required to turn in her gun and badge.
Adonis can be seen in the background of the Garner chokehold scene, and the specifics of the case against her have not been revealed to the public, beyond a police-union official’s statement that the charge is “failure to supervise.” Before now, no officers had been charged in the Garner case, and a Department of Justice investigation is still under way; it appears that the NYPD was forced to start disciplining Adonis before that federal review delivered its findings because an 18-month statute of limitations was about to run out.
Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who applied the chokehold, was similarly put on desk duty shortly after the incident. Both Garner’s death and the subsequent clearing of Officer Pantaleo inspired national protests and rallies to reform the criminal-justice system.
