Washington, DC – Rep. Jeffries released the following statement in reaction to the failure of a Staten Island grand jury to bring charges against Daniel Pantaleo, an NYPD officer whose unauthorized chokehold caused the death of unarmed Staten Island man Eric Garner:

“Once again, our broken criminal justice system has failed to hold a police officer accountable for the unjustified killing of an unarmed African-American man.  The failure to indict is a stunning miscarriage of justice, and makes clear that equal protection under the law does not exist for all Americans.  The Department of Justice must immediately commence a criminal civil rights investigation.”