SandyMaloneBrooklyn, NY – A kerfuffle broke out when friends and family of activist Erica Garner were asked to leave her hospital room on Tuesday morning, according to tweets from Garner’s official Twitter account
Garner, 27, suffered an asthma-induced heart attack on Saturday, and has not regained consciousness.
Her mother, Esaw Snipes-Garner, told The New York Times that Garner was in a medically-induced coma. On Monday, Garner remained on life support.
But on Tuesday morning, Garner’s verified Twitter account began posting allegations that the New York Police Department (NYPD) had “all of sudden rushed me not only out of her room where I was all night and have a pass to be they rushed me out of the icu with no explanation.”
The exact identity of whomever is posting to Garner’s Twitter account could not be verified, but the poster introduced herself on Christmas Eve in a tweet as “one of Ericas workers.”
The dramatic posts began at 6:05 a.m. on Tuesday morning, and claimed “#NYPD cleared me out of the ICU leaving Erica BY HERSELF WITH NO EXPLANATION … We are at woodhull hospital. They are supposed to be bringing her out of her coma in less than an hour and the #NYPD cleared her support from the floor with no explanation.”
The poster said that she didn’t trust NYPD, and called on followers to activate.
“don’t watch … call wood hull hospital in Brooklyn and ask them why the #NYPD is keeping out Erica Garners explicitly permitted visitors minutes before bringing her out of her coma?!?!?,” the post pleaded.
And the poster got their desired response from Garner’s Twitter followers.
There was only one problem in the escalating hospital drama – NYPD said there is no police presence at Garner’s hospital room.
NYPD’s Public Information Office said that whatever what taking place at the hospital involved hospital security, and not NYPD.
“The NYPD was not involved in any shape or form,” NYPD Detective Ahmed Nasser told Blue Lives Matter.
Garner was the oldest daughter of Eric Garner, who died after resisting arrest in police custody in 2014. The Black Lives Matter battle cry of “I can’t breathe” resulted from the video of her father’s arrest by the NYPD.
Her father’s autopsy report showed no damage to any area of Eric Garner’s neck, and it was determined that he died of a medical emergency induced by officers who were arresting him. The medical examiner declared it was a homicide. A New York Grand Jury declined to indict on any criminal charges.
In the wake of her father’s death, Garner became a major force behind protests against police brutality and in support of racial equality.
Garner had a heart attack on December 23, and was in a coma over the holiday weekend. She was not able to breathe on her own, according to the New York Daily News.
She had given birth to her second child in August, and her mother said that the pregnancy and birth were hard on her, and that Garner learned she had heart problems during the pregnancy. She named her new baby after her father.
Garner’s family stood vigil at Woodhull Medical Center in Brooklyn through the holiday weekend.
“Right now, the family is just praying and asking for everyone to keep her in their prayers,” her mother told The New York Times.
Garner’s Twitter account posted an update at 8:10 a.m. on Tuesday, but never reported that NYPD had not been involved in the incident.
There was no official update on Garner’s condition on Tuesday other than the tweets that wrongly stated NYPD had prevented her loved ones from being present while doctors brought her out of her medically induced coma.