Ramsey Orta, Who Filmed Eric Garner's Death, Released From Prison
Ramsey Orta — the man who shot video of Eric Garner’s 2014 arrest where he was killed by a police officer who held him in a chokehold — was released from prison on May 28, six weeks ahead of the scheduled end of his sentence, New York's PIX 11 reports.
A spokesperson from the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in New York confirmed his release. Orta will remain under court supervision until January 2022.
Orta was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 for possession of a weapon as well as drug charges.
In July of 2014, Orta recorded the now-infamous video of cops approaching Garner in Staten Island and accusing him of selling loose cigarettes. One of the officers, Daniel Pantaleo, pulled him into a chokehold. Garner repeatedly told the officers, "I can't breathe," and died soon after the altercation.
Pantaleo was fired in August of 2019 without pension, according to CNN, after being found guilty at a disciplinary trial for using a chokehold on Garner. He never faced any jail time.
The video sparked nationwide protests and made "I Can't Breathe" a rallying cry against police brutality, which sadly gained new significance two weeks ago, when George Floyd uttered them as his last words as he died at the hands of police on May 25.
