Man Who Filmed Eric Garner Death Is in Prison, Fears He May Be Poisoned by Guards

By now everyone in America knows the name “Eric Garner.” What few people know about, is the man who filmed his demise at the hands of the NYPD. 22-year-old Ramsey Orta caught the infamous footage on his cell phone, and the day after Eric Garner’s autopsy report came out, he was arrested by the NYPD for carrying an unregistered firearm. Then last February, he was arrested again for selling drugs to an undercover cop. Orta has since claimed that these arrests are in fact, acts of vengeance and harassment perpetrated by the NYPD.

It’s hard to say for sure if his claims are true, because none of us know what kind of person Orta is in real life. Is he a career criminal who just happened to film a police abuse incident, or is he really being targeted by the police for his actions?

There’s one thing we can be sure of. Ramsey Orta is definitely fearing for his life right now, after several of his fellow inmates fell ill from eating tainted prison food.

He filmed Eric Garner’s death by police and has been arrested twice since. Now Ramsey Orta will be released from a two-month stint at Rikers Island thanks to an outpouring of donations.

A crowdfunding page launched by Orta’s family has raised more than $25,000 and counting — allowing worried relatives to post the $16,250 bail to get him out. The donations will also support his legal fees.

But posting bail means more than just freedom. It will put an end to a sort of hunger strike.

Orta, 23, refuses to eat prison food over fears that New York Corrections Department officers will taint it with rat poison—a complaint echoed by 19 other inmates who filed a lawsuit last month claiming they were sickened by blue-green pellets found in their Rikers meatloaf…

…One of Orta’s attorneys, Will Aronin, confirmed his client is forgoing Rikers grub.

“Ramsey is afraid because of that [inmate poison claims] and other issues,” Aronin told the Daily Beast. “We’re thrilled to circumvent this by getting him home.”

Lisa Mercado, Orta’s aunt, said he’s been looking gaunt in recent visits.

“With everything he’s been through … he doesn’t belong in Rikers,” Mercado said. “He’s lost a lot of weight since being there. He’s still afraid to eat, and you can’t force him on that.”

The prison has since failed to give proper medical treatment to the inmates and all 19 of them have submitted sworn affidavits, claiming that the prison staff has refused to test their urine and blood samples. This is despite the medical staff admitting that the strange pellets in their food was rat poison. The inmates have also claimed the guards are attempting to confiscate the tainted food, which the prisoners have tried to preserve in the hopes that it can be tested by an independent laboratory.

I should also note that Taisha Allen, the other person who filmed the Eric Garner incident, claimed that she was also being harassed by the police for her actions. Is the NYPD trying to punish these people in the hopes that they can stifle any more attempts to document their abusive behavior?

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Contributed by Joshua Krause of The Daily Sheeple.

Joshua Krause is a reporter, writer and researcher at The Daily Sheeple. He was born and raised in the Bay Area and is a freelance writer and author. You can follow Joshua’s reports at Facebook or on his personal Twitter. Joshua’s website is Strange Danger .