(Bloomberg) -- A New York Police Department administrative judge ruled that a white officer should be fired for his actions five years ago for the choking of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man whose death while under arrest for selling untaxed cigarettes helped ignite the national Black Lives Matter movement.

NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado, who presided over disciplinary hearings in May, recommended Officer Daniel Pantaleo be dismissed for the July 2014 incident, according to the board. Garner, 43, was killed in a confrontation with police on a Staten Island sidewalk. A widely circulated video showed Pantaleo subduing Garner with a chokehold, which the department prohibits, as Garner cried, “I can’t breathe."

"Today’s decision confirms what the Civilian Complaint Review Board always has maintained: Officer Daniel Pantaleo committed misconduct on July 17, 2014, and his actions caused the death of Eric Garner,” the Civilian Complaint Review Board, which prosecuted the case said Friday in a news release. “The evidence the CCRB’s prosecutors brought forth at trial was more than sufficient to prove that Pantaleo is unfit to serve.”

Since the incident, Pantaleo has been on modified desk duty, drawing salary and benefits totaling more than $100,000 a year. Effective today, Pantaleo has been suspended, as is the longstanding practice in these matters when the recommendation is termination, said police department spokesman Phillip Walzak. A final decision on his future will be made by Police Commissioner James O’Neill later this month.

The deaths of Garner and Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, served as flash points, prompting nationwide demonstrations. Garner’s death also has harmed Mayor Bill de Blasio’s relationship with the department’s rank-and-file officers, as the mayor pushed to equip officers with body cameras and institute department-wide sensitivity training to de-escalate hostile encounters.

The incident has drawn national attention to de Blasio’s record as mayor as he embarks on a long shot presidential campaign. During this week’s televised debate between Democratic candidates for 2020, rivals said he should have fired Pantaleo five years ago. Demonstrators disrupted the debate shouting “Fire Pantaleo!” and “I can’t breathe!” until they were removed from the audience.

To contact the reporter on this story: Henry Goldman in New York at hgoldman@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Flynn McRoberts at fmcroberts1@bloomberg.net, Stacie Sherman, William Selway

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