Paramedics who failed to give 400lb father CPR after he was put in chokehold by cops suspended as anger mounts over his death

Eric Garner, 43, died Thursday when police tried to arrest him over claims he was selling bootleg cigarettes

Witnesses filmed as Garner shouted 'I can't breathe' before dying



Two of the officers involved have been put on desk duty, one has had his gun and badge stripped



Officer who used chokehold could lose his job, a source said



Two paramedics and two emergency medical technicians from Richmond University Medical Center are now on 'modif ied d esk duty' an d can't emergenc y calls during an i nves tigation into the incident

Rev. Al Sharpton asked in a Sunday sermon ' Even if police procedure doesn't kick in, when does your sense of humanity kick in?'

Four first responders have been placed on 'modified desk duty' following the death of an asthmatic, obese man after he was placed in a chokehold by a NYPD officer on Thursday.



The two paramedics and two emergency medical technicians work for Richmond University Medical Center in Staten Island, a FDNY source told MailOnline.



As part of 'modified desk duty,' the employees can't answer emergency calls during an investigation into 43-year-old Eric Garner's death, the source explained.



Meanwhile, Rev. Al Sharpton delivered a sermon in the wake of Garner's death at the Riverside Church in Manhattan on Sunday.

Sharpton contrasted the Staten Island man's death with the circumstances surrounding another man who died twenty years ago following an altercation with NYPD officers - but said 'there's a video this time.'

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Sermond: The Rev. Al Sharpton gestures as he addresses the congregation at Manhattan's Riverside Church on Sunday

Audience: Members of the congregation at Riverside Church applaud during a guest appearance by The Rev. Al Sharpton

Unresponsive: Eric Garner appears unconscious and is barely breathing to the point an officer checks his pulse



'What bothers me is that the nation watches a man saying "I can't breathe" and the choking continues. "I can't breathe," and it continues,' Sharpton said in a sermon uploaded online by the church.

'"I can't breathe" and police surround him, and none of them even say "Wait a minute, stop. He can't breathe,"' he said.



'Even if police procedure doesn't kick in, when does your sense of humanity kick in?' Sharpton continued, to applause from parishioners. 'When does our consideration of human beings kick in? Have we gotten so cold and withdrawn and inflexible to even people fighting for their breath does not appeal to something inside of us?'

Shocking video emerged Saturday of the minutes after Garner was put in a chokehold that may have killed him - and it was revealed that the cop responsible has had his gun and badge stripped.

Garner died shortly after he was thrown to the ground and choked-out by NYPD officers outside the Staten Island store in which he worked.



This new footage shows him unresponsive on the ground for several minutes before help arrives.

The video picks up where another disturbing video left off, with the man seemingly unconscious after the violent arrest.

Officers Daniel Pantaleo and Justin Damico have since been placed on desk duty, with Pantaleo forced to hand in his gun and badge, according to the New York Daily News, which originally made the original video public.

The second video shows Garner on his side on the ground as a crowd builds around him. Police first try to make the person capturing the footage leave, but they do not.

Cops try to talk with Garner, but he does not respond - his eyes are closed and his head is on the sidewalk.

They openly wonder if he still has a pulse, and one officer presses his fingers to Garner's neck and says he does.

People keep asking why they aren't doing CPR, and paramedics do not arrive for over three minutes.

The paramedic tries communicating with Garner: 'We're here to help.'

But he does not answer.

'Here to help': garner is motionless, but a paramedic is able to confirm he still has a pulse



Facing the camera: The officer who put Garner in the lethal chokehold waves just after his colleagues lift the obese, unconscious man onto a stretcher



The paramedic checks his pulse and says he's still alive, then decides he needs to go on a stretcher.

Still not alert, Garner is rolled over and at least six cops, plus the paramedic, hoist him on to a stretcher.

Another person asks again why no CPR was performed.

'Because he's still breathing,' and officer snaps at the person.

Despite Garner's medical condition being apparent to the still-building crowd, many cops stand around casually talking with each other, some can even be heard laughing.

The officer who put Garner in the chokehold waves to the camera as Garner is wheeled away.

The footage came to light the same day his widow spoke publicly for the first time of her horror at seeing a video of her dead husband's arrest.



Esaw Garner said she was deeply upset by the footage.



The mother-of-six collapsed in tears at a Saturday press conference.

Heartbroken: Esaw Garner, whose husband Eric died during an arrest Thursday, is held by the Rev Al Sharpton, right, and Rev Herbert Daughtry, on Saturday Grief: Esaw, pictured with Eric, says she struggled to watch the footage of her husband's final moments

A law enforcement source told the New York Post that he officer believed to have used the chokehold, who has not yet been identified, may lose his job.

'It violates protocol. It violates a direct rule which is never to put somebody in a choke hold,' the unidentified source told the newspaper.



Earlier footage released Friday shows one officer put Garner in a chokehold - a maneuver barred under NYPD practice code - while police tried to arrest him over claims he was selling bootleg cigarettes.



Garner's wife watched footage of the arrest, and her 43-year-old husband's final moments on a sidewalk, on Friday, the New York Daily News said.

'They killed him. They choked him and took him down and I could hear him screaming that he couldn’t breathe,' she told the newspaper, which has an exclusive copy of the film.

'It was so hard to watch. He was a non-violent gentle giant, and they killed him,' she also said.



Grief: Esaw comforts Emerald, one of her and Eric's six children, during a press conference with the Rev Al Sharpton on Saturday

Despair: Daughtry and Sharpton support Esaw as she collapses in tears after hearing details of her husband's death

Memorial: Prayer candles, flowers and messages are left at the spot where Garner was arrested before his death

Members of the community join in prayer during a demonstration on Saturday over Garner's death

The 46-year-old was comforted by the Reverend Al Sharpton at the Saturday press conference held by Sharpton's National Action Network.



She sobbed uncontrollably as Sharpton described the circumstances of her husband's death.



'The issue is not if one was selling [untaxed] cigarettes, the issue is that an unarmed man was subjected to a chokehold and the result is he is no longer with us,' Sharpton said.



Sharpton then joined the family on a peaceful demonstration through Staten Island, to protest the circumstances of Garner's death.



In the video Garner, who was not armed, is heard denying that he has been involved in illegal activity when a plainclothes police officer accosted him.



' Every time you see me you want to mess with me. I’m tired of it. It stops today!' Garner said.



Family tragedy: Father-of-six Eric Garner, 43, died on Thursday after being put in a chokehold by police and pinned to the ground on Staten Island

A rally is held to protest over Garner's death after police put him in a chokehold

The Rev Al Sharpton marches with members of the Garner family on Saturday in memory of Eric, who died Thursday

When he is put on the ground by five cops while being handcuffed, Garner was yelling out that he couldn't breathe, witness Valencia Griffin told the New York Daily News.



'They jumped him and they were choking him. He was foaming at the mouth. And that's it. He was done,' Ramsey Orta, who took the video, told the newspaper.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio postponed a family trip to Italy to ensure the investigation gets underway, the Post reported.

In a statement released Friday, he extended his sympathy to the victim's family, and promised a 'full and thorough investigation'.

'We have a responsibility to keep every New Yorker safe, and that includes when individuals are in custody of the NYPD,' de Blasio said.

Missed: Eric Garner was described as a gentle giant by those who knew him

Confrontation: Eric Garner was stopped by police on this sidewalk

After the incident, Staten Island Live reported that posters saying ' no justice, no peace ' 'and Another innocent black man has been killed by police brutality. The NYPD must be stopped! ' appeared in the area.