NYPD cop found guilty of chokehold in first conviction since restraint tactic banned.

A New York City Police Department officer was found guilty on Thursday of strangulation and using a prohibited chokehold.

 The Civilian Complaint Review Board substantiated an allegation that Habib used a chokehold in a separate 2017 encounter. Habib was also accused of lying under oath and tampering with evidence in a 2016 gun raid, resulting in several defendants withdrawing their guilty pleas.

The president of the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York, Patrick Hendry, denounced Thursday's verdict.

The officer's conviction was "further proof of a grim reality: every second police officers spend on this job puts them at risk of criminal prosecution, and pervasive anti-police propaganda has made it incredibly difficult to receive a fair trial," the police union boss said.

 The law was challenged by police unions but was upheld by New York state’s highest court in 2023.

Police use of chokeholds was already prohibited in most cases by NYPD policy when the law was enacted, but officers who used them were almost never prosecuted.

NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo lost his job but faced no criminal charges after a department disciplinary proceeding found that he used a prohibited chokehold on Eric Garner, who died during a 2014 arrest after repeatedly saying he could not breathe, fueling protests over police use of force.