The NYPD has stripped a police sergeant of her gun and badge for the chokehold death of Eric Garner, the first official accusation of wrongdoing in a case that fueled a national debate about race and police tactics. NY1's Dean Meminger filed the following report.

Sergeant Kizzy Adonis didn't speak but was visibly upset after she was hit with departmental charges for her role in the police chokehold death of Eric Garner. But her union didn't hold back.

"Can only be described as political pandering to the anti-police rhetoric that is out there," said Ed Mullins, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association.

The NYPD says Sergeant Adonis failed to supervise when Eric Garner died.

In addition to filing internal charges against her, the department placed the sergeant on modified duty, and took away her gun and badge.

"My embarrassment for Commissioner Bratton. My embarrassment that he is the commissioner for the NYPD," Mullins said. "I don't even think he has really evaluated the facts."

Garner died in July 2014 as police arrested him for illegally selling cigarettes on Staten Island. Police continued to restrain him even as he said he could not breathe. Adonis is said to be the first supervisor to arrive on the scene.

Cynthia Davis, the head of the National Action Network on Staten Island, says she's surprised by the charges.

"It is something that probably should have happened a long time ago," Davis said. "It certainly is a step in the right direction, but it just took so long."

Garner's death touched off protests across the city. After a grand jury declined to issue indictments, the Justice Department launched an investigation, telling the NYPD to hold off taking action against Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who placed Garner in the chokehold. But Adonis was charged now because an 18-month statute of limitations, set by the sergeants union contract, was about to run out.

The union says Adonis proved she was a good officer because she wasn't on patrol that day, but still responded to the scene when she heard the emergency calls come over the radio. At the time, she was headed to a meeting with her NYPD bosses.

"Her driver, which no one has put out, is a trained EMT. So a EMT is right on the scene when this is occurring," Mullins said. "She checked with him, and Eric Garner could breathe. He was OK."

The police commissioner will have the final say on any internal punishment of Adonis.