UPDATE 2-New York police officer in Eric Garner death will not be charged - source

Federal prosecutors will not criminally charge a New York Police Department officer in the death of Eric Garner, a black man whose 2014 death played a key role in mobilizing the Black Lives Matter movement, a source familiar with the decision said on Tuesday.

Federal prosecutors in the city's Brooklyn borough have scheduled a press conference for later in the day after meeting with Garner's family. A spokesman for the federal prosecutor's office in Brooklyn declined to comment on the report ahead of the news briefing. A spokesman for New York's Police Benevolent Association union declined to immediately comment on the news.

This week marks five years since New York police officer Daniel Pantaleo stopped Garner on a Staten Island Street for allegedly selling loose cigarettes and held him in a chokehold as Garner repeatedly said "I can't breathe," according to a cellphone video that captured Garner's last moments. In December 2014, a New York City grand jury voted against charging Pantaleo for killing Garner, which sparked national protests. Medical experts have determined Garner's death was a homicide induced by "compression of neck (chokehold), compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police."

Pantaleo has been assigned to desk duty since Garner's death and faced a disciplinary trial in May at the New York City Police Department headquarters. Pantaleo's lawyers have argued he did not use a chokehold but instead used an authorized "seatbelt" hold that slipped as Garner struggled, and that the officer did not cause Garner's death.

A federal civil rights investigation into Garner's death is ongoing and will not be affected by the statute of limitations expiration on Wednesday.

Also Read: Five years after Eric Garner's death, prosecutors in New York to update on case