Ramsey Orta
Ramsey Orta filmed the killing of Eric Garner in New York City on July 17, 2014.[1] His video spurred protests and debate over city police procedure.[2] Following a campaign of police harassment after the video went viral,[2][3][4][5] in 2016 he was sentenced to four years in prison for weapons and drug charges after accepting a plea deal for which the prosecutor agreed to drop charges against his mother.[6][7][8] He was released in May 2020.
Imprisonment
Following his taping of Garner's death, Orta was arrested multiple times. He pled guilty to drug and gun charges in 2016 and received a four-year prison sentence.[9] Orta was transferred multiple times during his imprisonment. As of early 2020, he was in solitary confinement in Collins Correctional Facility.[10] Orta was released in May 2020 and is under court supervision until January 2022.[11][12] A crowdfunding campaign raised over $200,000 for Orta.[11]
References
- Wing, Nick (December 3, 2014). "A Grand Jury Did Indict One Person Involved In Eric Garner's Killing -- The Man Who Filmed It". The Huffington Post.
- Goodman, J. David (August 3, 2014). "Man Who Filmed Fatal Police Chokehold Is Arrested on Weapons Charges". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
- Lewis, Taylor (April 13, 2015). "Man who filmed Eric Garner's death released from jail". Essence. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
- Sanburn, Josh. "The Witness: One year after filming Eric Garner's fatal confrontation with police, Ramsey Orta's life has been upended". Time.
- "Ramsey Orta, Man Who Filmed NYPD Chokehold of Eric Garner, Is Released from Jail". DemocracyNow. April 13, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
- Cooper Jones, Chloé (March 13, 2019). "He filmed the killing of Eric Garner—and the police punished him for it". The Verge. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
- Mathias, Christopher (September 1, 2016). "He Filmed The Death Of Eric Garner. Now He's Getting Ready To Spend 4 Years In Prison: Ramsey Orta, who says he's still haunted by Garner's death, thinks the NYPD is out for revenge". Huffington Post.
- Mathias, Christopher (October 5, 2016). "The Man Who Filmed the Eric Garner Video is Behind Bars". Huffington Post.
- Mark, Michelle (August 20, 2019). "The police officer who fatally choked Eric Garner has been fired. The guy who filmed it is still in prison". Insider. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
- Johnson, Stephon (January 2, 2020). "Ramsey Orta in and out of solitary confinement, abused by officers". New York Amsterdam News. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
- Ehrlich, Brenna (June 8, 2020). "Ramsey Orta, Man Who Filmed Eric Garner's Arrest, Has Been Released From Prison". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
- Chung, Jen (June 9, 2020). "Ramsey Orta, Who Filmed The Police Killing Of Eric Garner, Released From Prison". Gothamist. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
Further reading
- Hamilton, Alec (October 4, 2018). "Life After 'I Can't Breathe'". WNYC. Retrieved September 6, 2020.