Ramsey Orta is credited with filming the death of Eric Garner at the hands of New York Police Department officer. Now comes the announcement that Orta himself was arrested this weekend. So, in a city with millions of folks how did they just happen to run across him and catch him committing this crime?
USA Today reports:
“Ramsey Orta, 22, was arrested Saturday and is charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon. Police allege that plainclothes officers saw Orta attempt to slide a .25-caliber semiautomatic handgun into the waistband of a 17-year-old girl on a street just blocks from where Orta recorded the NYPD’s fatal July 17 confrontation with Eric Garner.
Orta had a previous weapon conviction that prohibited him from possessing a firearm. He is due in court this month on robbery charges stemming from a May arrest and an assault charge from an arrest three days before Garner’s death, according to court records.”
Illegal, unfair, and vindicative activities by the boys in blue gang (aka the police) is nothing new. What is new is the frequency with which they are being caught now that everyone has a cell phone with a camera. These incidents illustrate and point to the need for stronger laws and practices that prohibit and punish police misconduct. Usually the police only get “slapped on the wrist” when they are caught misbehaving. They need to be sent to prison and executed just like everybody else for their crimes.