Garner Supporters Protest at Barclays as Will and Kate Attend Nets Game

Protests against a Staten Island grand jury’s decision not to indict an NYPD officer in the chokehold death of Eric Garner took place outside of the Barclays Center Monday night, as the Duke and and Duchess of Cambridge attended a Brooklyn Nets game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Gus Rosendale reports.

Protests against a Staten Island grand jury's decision not to indict an NYPD officer in the chokehold death of Eric Garner took place inside and outside of the Barclays Center Monday night, as the Duke and and Duchess of Cambridge attended a Brooklyn Nets game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

While a group of protesters staged a "die-in" outside the arena, Cavaliers players' LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, along with multiple Nets players, wore "I Can't Breathe" shirts as they warmed up before the game.

Britain's Prince William and his wife, Kate, sat courtside, bringing an added amount of media attention to what would otherwise be a normal regular season game.

As of late Monday night the NYPD was reporting only one arrest at the protests outside Barclays.

New York City Council members also took to the streets and the council chamber to protest Monday. About two dozen council members blocked traffic for about five minutes Monday by standing in the middle of Broadway chanting "I can't breathe.''
 
The legislators, joined by clergy and activists, also staged a "die-in'' on the steps of City Hall.
 
Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, who did not participate in the traffic protest, began a Council meeting by leading the room in reciting "I can't breathe'' eleven times.
 
The Speaker also wore a "black lives matter'' T-shirt like many of her colleagues, and held a moment of silence for Garner.

Monday's protests marked the sixth-straight day of protests in the wake of the grand jury's decision not to indict NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo in Garner's death. Pantaleo was seen on widely watched amateur video wrapping his arm around Garner's neck as the heavyset, asthmatic 43-year-old yelled, "I can't breathe!" nearly a dozen times during the July 17 confrontation.

Pantaleo said in a statement Wednesday that he became a police officer to help people.

"It is never my intention to harm anyone and I feel very bad about the death of Mr. Garner," he said. "My family and I include him and his family in our prayers and I hope that they will accept my personal condolences for their loss.”

NBC 4 New York learned Friday that Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan asked grand jurors to consider manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges, and not a lesser charge of reckless endangerment. It's not clear why he left the lesser charge off the table, and he has said strict confidentiality laws surrounding grand jury proceedings prevent him from discussing the details of the case.

The federal Justice Department has launched a civil rights investigation into Garner's death, and the NYPD is conducting an internal review of the case. Mayor de Blasio said on CBS' "Face the Nation" that the NYPD's review could take up to four months.

The families of Garner and Brown will join civil rights leaders for a rally in Washington on Saturday.

SEE MORE COVERAGE OF THE ERIC GARNER GRAND JURY PROTESTS: 

-- Michael George contributed to this report. 

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