Ever since filming a New York City Police Department officer placing 43-year-old Eric Garner in a fatal choke hold last month in Staten Island, N.Y., Ramsey Ortaโs life has been a living hell, he told a judge Monday.
Suggested Reading
Orta, 22, was arrested late Saturday on a weapons possession charge after police observed him exiting a hotel known for drug activity and placing an object in the waistband of a female companion. But he told the judge that heโs being set up by police because of the video that went viral, New Yorkโs Daily News reports.
โThey lying on me, they doing me wrong,โ Orta said after pleading not guilty Monday, the Daily News reports. โIโve been harassed by the police since this whole videoโ emerged. His bail was set at $75,000.
Later, in a telephone interview with the Daily News, Orta said that when the officers arrested him, they โstarted videotaping me before I even went to the precinct.
โโI said, โExcuse me, Officer, youโre violating my rights now,โโ Orta told the News. โThatโs when [one of the officers] said, โShut your mouth,โ and โKarmaโs a bitch. What goes around comes around.โโ
Police officials declined to comment to the Daily News about Ortaโs claims, but a source told the site that โthe facts speak for themselves.โ
Sources also told the News that Orta is no stranger to the criminal-justice system. โHe has been arrested 27 times since 2009 for offenses ranging from fare evasion and pot possession to a robbery in May,โ the News writes. โHe was also busted twice for gun possession and in January 2013 he was charged with menacing with a gun.โ
Ortaโs viral cellphone video captured Officer Daniel Pantaleo using an illegal choke hold last month on Garner, who was the father of six. The New York City Medical Examinerโs Officeย ruled the death a homicide on Friday. Pantaleo has been placed on desk duty and stripped of his gun and badge. Officer Justin Damico was also placed on desk duty but still has his gun and badge, police said.
Read more at the New York Daily News.
Straight From
Sign up for our free daily newsletter.