Copwatch Page #3

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- Get out of the street.

- Go on the sidewalk.

Ramsey Orta, the man who filmed

the death of Eric Garner,

has been filming the police ever since.

I told you

to stay on the sidewalk.

But when he is arrested filming

a traffic stop,

his wife, Bella, takes over.

We are on Beruche and Halston.

Ramsey has just been arrested

for standing off of the sidewalk

while filming

the police arrest someone else.

Jesus f***ing Christ.

With Ramsey behind bars,

his wife Bella alerts other cop watchers.

F*** this world, man.

Yeah. The charges are obstruction

of a government agent,

and disorderly conduct.

Right, I'm like, that's f***ing bullshit.

I mean, it's been a crazy week.

You know? To hear that he got

arrested for filming cops.

Once again. You know?

My understanding, he was

charged with jaywalking.

I don't know...

You want your other shoelace?

Doing my job.

After five hours in custody,

and convinced he's done nothing wrong,

Ramsey is released.

Before I approach any situation,

I'm like, "Yo, my name is Ramsey Orta.

I work with Copwatch.

I got video footage of

everything that went on.

Don't try to falsify reports."

Man, I think you're crazy

still filming the police.

For Ramsey, the battle

with the NYPD is personal.

He doesn't want the death of his friend,

Eric Garner, to count for nothing.

I'm not going to say

they won by taking my friend.

But they won, in a sense, to show

that they don't give a f***.

But now it's my turn.

My main goal is to put pressure on cops.

Once they see camera in somebody's

hand or a phone in somebody's hand,

they're quick to think twice,

like, "Oh, sh*t,

I can't do what I wanted to do."

For Ramsey,

the stakes couldn't be higher.

He has a criminal past.

And since his video exposing

the NYPD went viral,

he has been arrested

in multiple undercover sting operations.

Altogether,

I have five bail bonds.

Empire is covering the gun charge,

'cause that was the first case

that I caught behind the video,

and allegation was I was

selling drugs to an undercover.

His family

is helping pay his bail,

and each week he has to check in

at this bail bond office.

The names that

I'm putting back on the list,

let's just say two cases,

if my grandmother's on three,

can she sign for that other two?

Okay.

Ramsey's lawyers,

Ken Perry and Will Aronin,

believe these latest arrests are bogus,

designed to discredit Ramsey.

He doesn't have a clean record.

But that has nothing

to do with these cases.

It does feel that

they had it in for someone.

And I do think that had he not filmed

this video,

we would not be in this situation

defending him on six or seven

different cases.

It was more like, "Okay, this guy

is getting f***ed completely."

Lawyers Aronin and Perry

specialize in cases

of alleged police abuse.

So, tell me what happened.

Uh, well, first off...

Increasingly they are using

Copwatch material

in their court battles with the NYPD.

Keep on going.

Today, they are meeting Christen Conyers.

It's amazing how lucky it is

that this was all on video.

As you can see on tape,

I didn't commit any crime.

This is me right here.

He is facing charges

of resisting arrest

after cycling into a demo.

But footage shot by cop watchers

could be key to his defense.

Of course, I looked

to see what was going on,

'cause this is where I live,

I have every right to be here.

That's when he grabbed me.

I had to stand up.

If I didn't stand up,

I would have fell off the bike.

While this was going on,

officers are kicking my legs.

They're trying to push you down.

They're pushing me down on the floor.

Let's...

From the start for a second.

One, two, three, four, five, six.

You can see me under here.

And there you are there.

Y ou have seven guys as we counted,

maybe more on top of you now.

It's a dogpile.

What are you saying at that point?

At that point, I'm trying to tell them...

I'm gasping for air, telling them,

"I can't breathe, I can't breathe!"

I'm against the ground with three or four

different officers on my back.

How am I supposed to breathe?

Eric Garner didn't get a chance

to tell his story.

I wound up spending the night

in the hospital. Just madness, man.

Christen will be in court

in a few days

and it's taking its toll on his family.

My son doesn't even look

at the police the same now.

He shouldn't live in a place

in which he fears the people

that are supposed to serve

and protect him.

You're going to go to court?

Yeah, me and mommy are gonna go to court.

Just in case anything happens,

mommy is going to come with me.

I don't think anything is going to happen,

but in the event that it does,

it would be better

for mommy to know,

because the courts are not going to call

and tell Mommy that they are

remanding me or anything like that.

The gulf between cop watchers

and the NYPD has never been greater.

- We're here tonight...

- We're here tonight.

- ...'Cause black lives matter.

- 'Cause black lives matter.

Each week, they meet

to remember a person of color

who's died at the hands of the police.

Every Monday, for over a year,

we've been highlighting different cases

of police brutality, and unfortunately,

we're not running out of names.

They're going to shut down the streets,

they're gonna do some civil disobedience

to draw attention to the issue.

Are they going to get arrested?

Most likely some of them will.

What do we want?

- Justice.

- And when do we want it?

Now!

What do we want?

- Justice!

- And when do we want it?

Now!

- And if we don't get it?

- Shut it down.

- And if we don't get it?

- Shut it down.

There is some brave people willing to

put their lives at the hands

of the police, you know?

All I can do is watch their backs

as long as...

Just filming as much as I'm able to do.

- And if we don't get it?

- Shut it down!

- And if we don't get it?

- Shut it down!

These two sides now view

each other with complete hostility.

Sorry to disrupt your shopping!

Sorry to disrupt your shopping!

- But while you're shopping...

- But while you're shopping.

- Black people are dying.

- Black people are dying.

- By the hands of the police.

- By the hands of the police.

- Put your fist in the air.

- Put your fist in the air.

- Our lives matter.

- Black lives matter.

- Our lives matter.

- Black lives matter.

Rather than target

the main demonstration,

the police single out one

of the cop watchers they know well.

Go back over there and film over there.

This is the seventy-fifth time

Dennis has been arrested.

You've got to get back

in your little space.

What's happened, Dennis?

There are arresting me. I have no clue.

I have no idea why they are arresting me.

They haven't told me

why am I being arrested.

Please step back

on the sidewalk. You're on the street.

The more we report of your abuse,

the more people win,

the more we win.

Three, six, seven cops on somebody

who was walking on the crosswalk?

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