Claims have surfaced that it wasn’t just the chokehold that led to Eric Garner’s death. INSIDE EDITION reports on new information coming to light.
There are explosive new claims over the death of Eric Garner, a father-of-six.
Under the headline "It Wasn't Just The Chokehold," The New York Times says in an editorial on Friday that the pile of cops on Garner's back broke "a basic rule of safe arrests especially for people who are overweight and have medical problems like asthma."
Emergency room doctor, Sampson Davis told INSIDE EDITION's Les Trent about the physical stresses involved with someone is lying on the ground.
Trent asked, "What is happening with the organs internally, especially someone of that girth, is laying in this position?"
Dr. Davis explained, "The organs are not able to get in. You can imagine, you have an oxygen supply now. You have air. But as I press on you, you are not able to take a deep breath. Eventually the organs will starve of oxygen. The heart, the lungs, the brain, and over minutes of time you will become unconscious."
See More of INSIDE EDITION'S Interview with Davis
NYPD guidelines call for suspects to be turned on their side or seated after handcuffs are applied to avoid the risk of what's known as "positional asphyxia."
Harry Houck is a former NYPD detective. He spoke to INSIDE EDITION's Les Trent. Trent said, "What The Times editorial says, this breaks 'a basic rule of safe arrests especially for people who, like Mr. Garner, are overweight and have medical problems like asthma.'"
Houck said, "And how would the police know that? The police know that he is overweight but wouldn't know he had asthma, wouldn't know he had a heart condition."
The shocking video also shows that Garner received minimal, if any medical help as he lay on the sidewalk waiting for an ambulance.
The video shows a moment when one officer spoke to the stricken Garner, saying, “Come on, guy, breathe in, breathe out, all right?”
The video does show Garner is at one point repositioned on his side.
An exchange between a bystander and one officer may shed light on the apparent lack of medical help from the police.
A bystander asked, “Why does nobody do CPR?”
“Because he's breathing,” said a cop.
The bystander asked, “He's breathing?”
“Yeah,” answered a cop.
Garner's two oldest children spoke to Katie Couric at Yahoo! News. His daughter said, "That is my question, why EMS didn't help him if it is their job is to save, you know, people."
Protests continue over the grand jury's decision not to indict the officer who seized hold of Garner from behind and not just in New York. Demonstrations were held in Boston, Dallas, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.
