NEW YORK — Thousands of people expressing grief, anger and hope for a better future marched through Staten Island on Saturday to protest the chokehold death of an unarmed black man by a white police officer.

The afternoon rally and march was led by the Rev. Al Sharpton and relatives of Eric Garner, who died July 17 after a New York Police Department officer took him to the ground with a banned tactic captured on a widely circulated video.

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Ameariah Shearin holds a sign atop her father Theodore during a Saturday march through Staten Island. The Associated Press

The marchers, starting at the intersection where Garner was first confronted, walked behind a banner that said: “We Will Not Go Back, March for Justice.”

Police estimated that 2,500 people had taken to the streets.

James O’Neill, chief of patrol with the NYPD, credited the march organizers with helping to keep things orderly. “Everything is good,” he said.

Earlier, Sharpton urged about 100 marchers gathered at a Staten Island church to remain nonviolent or go home.

He also repeated his call for a federal takeover of the criminal probe into the death of the 43-year-old Garner, an asthmatic father of six who was placed in a chokehold after police officers stopped him for selling loose cigarettes.

Activists have urged that criminal charges be brought against the officers involved.

Many in the crowd carried signs. Some said: “Police the NYPD” or “RIP Eric Garner.” But the most popular signs were “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot,” which emerged during protests in Missouri over the police killing of Michael Brown, and “I can’t breathe,” Garner’s last words.

Garner’s widow, Esaw, urged the crowd to march in peace toward justice.

She said she is too afraid to let her sons go outside and asked those at the rally to “get justice” for her husband.

The marchers walked alongside dozens of police officers in parade gear, including polo shirts and pants. There were also officers in formal blue uniforms, but none had riot gear.

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