EXCLUSIVE: Smile of the cop who choked Eric Garner. NYPD officer is still under 24-hour guard a year to the day since death which set off race storm

  • Officer Daniel Pantaleo held Eric Garner in a chokehold as he resisted arrest for selling loose cigarettes on street in Staten Island NY
  • Death on 17 July last year set off protests over African-American deaths at hands of police with slogan 'I can't breathe' which Garner was heard saying
  • Pantaelo was cleared of murder by grand jury but is still under internal and federal investigation and working only desk duties for NYPD
  • Exclusive pictures show he is still under 24-hour armed armed protection after receiving death threats 
  • Garner's family received $5.9 million from New York city over his death - but bill for cop's security is estimated at $400,000

By Daniel Bates For Dailymail.com

Published: 10:52 EST, 17 July 2015 | Updated: 12:20 EST, 17 July 2015

The New York City policeman who is under federal investigation for choking Eric Garner to death is still living life under siege - a year on from the killing.

Daniel Pantaleo has a marked police car outside his front door 24 hours a day because he has received death threats.

Pantaleo's blinds are always drawn and he is ferried around by plainclothes detectives in an unmarked police car.

The bill for the security measures is estimated to be as high as $400,000, with both Pantaleo's home and his parents' home under 24-hour protection.

As our exclusive pictures show, he has gained a considerable amount of weight as he is working a desk job rather than being out on the streets.

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Guarded: Daniel Pantaleo seen for the first time since since the death of Eric Garner a year ago today. The officer is still on duty but doing desk work and is under 24-hour armed guard 

Guarded: Daniel Pantaleo seen for the first time since since the death of Eric Garner a year ago today. The officer is still on duty but doing desk work and is under 24-hour armed guard 

Off duty: A casually-dressed Pantaleo leaves his home on Staten Island to get into a car. He is still considered so gravely at risk that he has been assigned a security detail 

Off duty: A casually-dressed Pantaleo leaves his home on Staten Island to get into a car. He is still considered so gravely at risk that he has been assigned a security detail 

Dog days: 

Dog days: 

'I can't breathe': Eric Garner's words before he died sparked protests over relations between police and African-Americans

Involvement: Officer Pantaleo, in green, was on plain clothes duty when he and other officers arrested Eric Garner. The 300lbs father of six resisted arrest and Pantaleo used a chokehold

Death: Eric Garner was recorded saying 'I can't breathe' and passed out, then died

Death: Eric Garner was recorded saying 'I can't breathe' and passed out, then died

Pantaleo has also been stripped of his shield and gun while he awaits the completion of two investigations, one from the FBI and the other from NYPD Internal Affairs.

A year ago today Pantaleo, 30, was part of a group of five NYPD officers who stopped Garner, a 300 -pound father of six, for selling loose cigarettes in Staten Island.

The incident was filmed by a member of the public and shows Pantaleo, 30, holding Garner, 43, by the neck in a chokehold as he says: 'I can't breathe' before passing out and dying.

The New York City Medical Examiner ruled that Garner's death was a homicide but a jury in Staten Island decided not to indict Pantaleo.

The City of New York has now settled the case with Garner's family for $5.9 million, but Pantaleo's fate remains in the balance.

He has been made a national pariah and even some of his neighbors do not want him around.

Daily Mail Online has learned that he is living a quiet life that, to the outsider, appears that he is under house arrest.

He rarely ventures out of his house and when he does it is under the watchful gaze of the two officers who are constantly posted outside his home.

He will usually give them a wave as he leaves in his black Infiniti car to visit family members or friends close by.

Pantaleo rarely ventures beyond his neighborhood, and last month he explained why. 

In an affidavit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court he said that he is still getting death threats and had CCTV cameras and a panic button installed inside his home.

In the affidavit he claimed a Michigan man was arrested for allegedly threatening to cut off his head - the man is currently being evaluated by psychiatrists.

Guard: Uniformed NYPD officers are a constant presence at Officer Daniel Pantaleo's home because of the concern that he remains at risk having been cleared of murdering Eric Garner

Guard: Uniformed NYPD officers are a constant presence at Officer Daniel Pantaleo's home because of the concern that he remains at risk having been cleared of murdering Eric Garner

Vigilance: An NYPD patrol car is constantly present to guard Pantaleo's property while the officer is driven in an unmarked police car 

Vigilance: An NYPD patrol car is constantly present to guard Pantaleo's property while the officer is driven in an unmarked police car 

Protests: New York was hit by demonstrations after Garner's death and the subsequent decision by a grand jury not to bring murder charges against Officer Pantaleo

Protests: New York was hit by demonstrations after Garner's death and the subsequent decision by a grand jury not to bring murder charges against Officer Pantaleo

Involvement: The Rev AL Sharpton, seen with (from left) Gwen Carr, Eric Garner's mother; Erica Garner, Eric Garner's daughter; Eric Garner jnr, Eric Garner's son; Emerald Garner, Eric Garner's daughter and Esaw Garner, Eric Garner's wife.

Involvement: The Rev AL Sharpton, seen with (from left) Gwen Carr, Eric Garner's mother; Erica Garner, Eric Garner's daughter; Eric Garner jnr, Eric Garner's son; Emerald Garner, Eric Garner's daughter and Esaw Garner, Eric Garner's wife.

Remembered: Eric Garner with family members. His survivors have received a $5.9 million settlement this week with New York city, after launching a wrongful death suit

Remembered: Eric Garner with family members. His survivors have received a $5.9 million settlement this week with New York city, after launching a wrongful death suit

Pantaleo wrote: 'Because certain (personal) records have already been improperly released, without my knowledge or permission, I have actually been harassed, embarrassed and subjected to character assassination.

'There is no doubt in my mind that the information will be used to continue to harass and embarrass me, creating a continued serious risk to the personal safety of myself and my family.'

The Department of Justice Federal investigation is running concurrently with the NYPD's investigation but could take months before it concludes.

The Federal probe will examine whether Garner's civil rights were breached and whether or not Pantaleo's conduct amount to a 'hate crime'.

Only after that is concluded will the NYPD investigation report back its findings.

Their investigators will examine whether Pantaleo was guilty of using excessive force and if the choke hold he used was within the scope of his training.

Gunned down: Officers Rafael Ramos (left) and Wenjian Liu (right) were shot to death as they sat in their patrol car in Brooklyn in December last year. Their murders came after protests over police-black relations in the wake of Garner's death and others including Michael brown, the teenager killed in Ferguson, MO

Gunned down: Officers Rafael Ramos (left) and Wenjian Liu (right) were shot to death as they sat in their patrol car in Brooklyn in December last year. Their murders came after protests over police-black relations in the wake of Garner's death and others including Michael brown, the teenager killed in Ferguson, MO

In the spotlight: Mayor Bill de Blasio (center) and his police commissioner Bill Bratton (right) pictured mourning Officer Wenjian Liu.

In the spotlight: Mayor Bill de Blasio (center) and his police commissioner Bill Bratton (right) pictured mourning Officer Wenjian Liu.

Pantaleo could be suspended, fired or given a slap on the wrist - or be completely exonerated.

Garner's death was one of the most high profile incidents where black men were killed by white cops in the past year which have put race relations in America under intense scrutiny.

Among the other cases was that of Michael Brown, the unarmed black teenager who was shot by white officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, last August.

In Cleveland, Ohio, 12-year-old Tamir Rice was shot dead by a white cop from close range whilst playing with a toy gun in a playground.

 Even though a year has passed, New York has not healed from the scars of Garner's death and the resulting turmoil.

In December last year NYPD officers Rafael Ramos, 40, and Wenjian Liu, 32, were shot dead in their marked patrol car whilst eating lunch in Brooklyn.

The killer, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, wrote on his Instagram account that he acted in revenge for the death of Brown and bragged: 'I'm putting wings on pigs today. They take 1 of ours, let's take 2 of theirs'.

The shooting sparked fears that New York was returning to the bad old days of the 1970s when cops were frequently targets of hit squads.

Following the announcement of the Garner settlement, his family have said that people are wrong to congratulate them.

Garner's mother Gwen Carr, 66, said: 'Don’t congratulate us. This is not a victory. The victory will come when we get justice.'

Modified duty: Daniel Pantaleo is not on active patrol duty but working behind a desk at a New York precinct

Modified duty: Daniel Pantaleo is not on active patrol duty but working behind a desk at a New York precinct

Target: NYPD officers still fear that Daniel Pantaleo could be a security risk because of the circumstances of Eric Garner's death
Target: NYPD officers still fear that Daniel Pantaleo could be a security risk because of the circumstances of Eric Garner's death

Target: NYPD officers still fear that Daniel Pantaleo could be a security risk because of the circumstances of Eric Garner's death

The Rev Al Sharpton has also spoken out and said that 'money is not justice'. He had been vocal in his calls for 

Pantaleo's lawyer Stuart London was not available for comment, though he has told the New York Daily News that his client wants to get back to being a regular cop.

He said: 'The unbelievable part is this has not soured him one bit on doing law enforcement. It hasn't diminished his desire to help the citizens of this city.'

Albert O'Leary, the New York City Police Benevolent Association communications director declined to comment.

He said: 'We appreciate your concern but we are not encouraging people to write about it [the anniversary]'.

An NYPD spokesman confirmed that Pantaleo was still on what he called 'modified' duty.

Nobody from the Department of Justice was available for comment.

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