Garner, a vocal member of the Black Lives Matter movement whose father was killed by a police officer three years ago, is in intensive care in New York

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Erica Garner, who became a vocal member of the Black Lives Matter movement after her father was killed by a police officer three years ago, was in intensive care in a New York hospital on Thursday, after going into cardiac arrest over the weekend.

According to family and close friends, Garner suffered “major brain damage” from a lack of oxygen. The family was holding out hope of recovery, though, as doctors had registered some brain activity.

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Garner became widely known in activist circles after her father, Eric Garner, was choked to death by a New York police officer in July 2014.

Some media outlets reported on Thursday that Garner was “brain dead” and had been given no chance for recovery. An unidentified close family associate who had been sharing updates from Garner’s Twitter account rejected such reports.

officialERICA GARNER (@es_snipes) I know that the @NYDailyNews didn't get their information from anyone that heard it straight from a doctors mouth because only one person was in the room when the results were read. That person was me. I called each family member. So they are reporting 3 person hearsay.

In August Garner, 27, gave birth to a boy named for her late father. She suffered a first heart attack shortly afterwards. Doctors said the pregnancy had put strain on her heart, which was found to be enlarged.

Prayers and well wishes have flowed in from throughout the protest and activist community.

The Vermont senator Bernie Sanders said he hoped Garner had “a full recovery” and could “rejoin the struggle for justice as soon as possible”. Garner endorsed Sanders during the 2016 presidential campaign and attended a number of rallies.

Eric Garner’s death was caught on camera by a bystander, as police attempted to take him into custody on suspicion of the sale of untaxed loose cigarettes. As NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo tried to restrain Garner with a type of chokehold, Garner could be heard yelling “I can’t breathe”.

His words became a rallying cry of the Black Lives Matter movement and protests against police violence.

Pantaleo was not charged with any crime and remains employed with the NYPD. In 2015, the Garner family settled a civil wrongful death suit with the city for $5.9m.

Erica Garner became a vocal critic of the NYPD, a frequent speaker and an organizer of rallies, marches and other forms of direct action.

Earlier this month, in an interview on the webshow Like it or Not, she talked about the physical toll that organizing and activism can take.

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“I’m struggling right now from the stress of everything,” she said, “because the system, it beats you down.”

Garner cited the mother of Kalief Browder, a Bronx teen who was wrongly held in jail for three years and killed himself in 2015, as an example. Venida Browder died in 2016 from complications of a heart attack. Her lawyer said she believed grief and emotional trauma was at least partially to blame.

“She died of a broken heart, she had a broken heart because she kept on fighting for her son,” Garner told Like it Or Not host Benjamin Dixon. “But I’m not giving up, and this is the fight. I’m in this fight forever.”