In Tompkinsville
Director/DP: Gareth Smit

On July 17th 2014, Eric Garner was killed in a chokehold by an NYPD police officer during his arrest near the corner of Victory Boulevard and Bay streeT. The death of Eric Garner sparked protests and grabbed headlines across the nation and around the world, but perhaps nowhere more did it have a lasting impact than in this small community of Tompkinsville, Staten Island. After the headlines, I photographed the family and friends of Eric Garner here as they continued to march and mourn his death, focusing on the trauma of what happened.

After the grand jury decided not to indict Pantaleo in Dec 2014, the Department of Justice started an independent investigation. But in 2019 Trump appointee Attorney General William Barr decided that the officers involved in Garner's death would not face federal charges.

gareth smit

cinematographer