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Here's what the protesters were chanting at the 2nd Democratic debate in Detroit

Posted at 6:47 PM, Jul 31, 2019
and last updated 2019-07-31 21:47:40-04

Hecklers were very present during Wednesday's second Democratic presidential debate in Detroit. Those heckles were targeted at Mayor Bill de Blasio, Sen. Cory Booker and Former Vice President Joe Biden as they were responding to questions.

Several protesters were removed from the Democratic Presidential Debate in Detroit after reportedly chanting "Fire Pantaleo" and "I can't breathe" during the opening statements of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker.

A photo on Twitter showed several of the people being removed for the chants, which put Booker's opening statement, which resumed shortly after the chants stopped.

The chants were in reference to New York City Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who is accused in the choking death of Eric Garner on Staten Island in 2014.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Justice Department announced it wouldn't file federal charges against Pantaleo.

De Blasio beat back repeated calls earlier this month for him to fire the police officer accused of using a fatal chokehold on Eric Garner five years ago, saying he was obligated to keep his opinions to himself until police department disciplinary proceedings are complete.

During the debate, de Blasio sent out a series of tweets about the protesters, saying in part, "I heard you. I saw you. I thank you."

We all watched Eric Garner's dying words. They haunted this nation. He NEVER should have died. #DemDebate

— Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) August 1, 2019

Later on in the evening, more protesters chanted "3 million deportations" while Biden spoke in response to immigration.

The Democrat, who is running for president partly on his record of police reform, said he felt "it was an injustice of the highest order," that the U.S. Justice Department investigated Garner's death for nearly five years before announcing Tuesday that no civil rights charges would be filed.

But de Blasio would not say whether he believes whether the officer involved in the death, Daniel Pantaleo, should lose his job.

"I'm not going to venture personal opinions," de Blasio said. "When you're the steward of the entire city this is not about personal opinions."

This story was originally published by WXYZ.