Chokeholds are illegal for New York cops. The cop placed a chokehold on Eric Garner, a petty criminal, anyway.

Garner was subdued by four police officers and, in very short order, presented no threat to anyone. Yet the cop maintained the chokehold.

Garner screamed that he could not breathe, yet the cop maintained the chokehold.

Garner died and the coroner ruled his death a homicide. All of this was captured on film.

That no charges resulted from this, even minor ones, is appalling and inexcusable. We do not, last I checked, have a death penalty for petty crime in this country.