Althouse: Ramsey Orta, who video'd the NYT police choking a man to death, is arrested on a gun possession charge.

August 4, 2014

Ramsey Orta, who video'd the NYT police choking a man to death, is arrested on a gun possession charge.

"Police union officials said Mr. Orta’s arrest showed the dangers faced by officers in that area of Staten Island."

27 comments:

rhhardin said...: The blue wall of silence doesn't like being recorded.; 8/4/14, 6:04 AM
SJ said...: Notice that this man did not use or threaten to use a firearm against Police.

But he is busted for "possession of a gun". And this is viewed as evidence of danger towards Police.

One of the nasty side-effects of strict gun laws: sometime, otherwise-law-abiding people acquire a gun illegally because it is too hard or too expensive to acquire one legally.

And they become law-breakers. Not for threatening others with the gun, but simply for owning one without jumping through appropriate legal hoops.

And it provides yet-one-more-thing that Police can plant on suspects, if an opportunity arises.; 8/4/14, 7:03 AM
John henry said...: Read the article, RH. My forst thought was similar, that it was trumped up harassment. Not the case.

He was carrying the gun in public, saw the cops coming and tried to pass the gun off to a 17 years old girl who was also arrested.

John Henry; 8/4/14, 7:16 AM
Fritz said...: What an amazing coincidence!; 8/4/14, 7:19 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Wow.

No, Police union officials, "what this showed" are the dangers of official desperation, and pettiness, now faced by citizens of this nation.

It's time for de Blasio to make some noise,...; 8/4/14, 7:27 AM
James Pawlak said...: Was the gun for protection---Against the Fascist police so common in Democrat controlled governments?

Was the gun a "throw away" plant?; 8/4/14, 7:44 AM
Fernandinande said...: What part of "shall not be infringed" do they not understand?

Or did the gun have fringes?; 8/4/14, 7:59 AM
Hagar said...: A .25 caliber? Really?

I think in this case I would like to hear about some further documentation tying this gun to Mr. Orta.; 8/4/14, 8:29 AM
chuck said...: One of the girls from my high school went on to date fellow from Staten Island with Mafia connections. He drove with a pistol in the glove compartment.; 8/4/14, 8:34 AM
MadisonMan said...: Coming soon: An audit.; 8/4/14, 8:35 AM
Skyler said...: Clearly the man was a danger to the police and had to be arrested. Of course, by "danger" we mean they were in danger of being exposed as murderers, and we can't have the people knowing that.; 8/4/14, 8:35 AM
David said...: "Police union officials said Mr. Orta’s arrest showed the dangers faced by officers in that area of Staten Island."

Not to mention the danger that the officers pose to citizens.; 8/4/14, 8:37 AM
Paul said...: This is payback by the cops.

Who knows, it may be a throwdown gun, not like the NYPD never has done that.

And of course, all we have is the NYPD's version of events. Wonder what tipped them off he had a gun.. especially a Glock 17 as the NYPD uses the Glock 19, the DC cops use the Glock 17, in fact quite a few NY police departments use the Glock 17.; 8/4/14, 8:41 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Fritz,

"What an amazing coincidence!"

The guy who filmed the police killing a man decided to get a gun for protection.

That's no coincidence,...; 8/4/14, 8:42 AM
Wince said...: Reminds me of Dinesh D’Souza. Does anybody know if the question was answered about how D'Souza (and seemingly D'Souza alone) was ensnared in a "routine review” by the FBI of campaign filings with the Federal Election Commission?

In the letter, Sens. Charles Grassley, Jeff Sessions, Ted Cruz and Mike Lee quote Harvard Law School Professor Alan Dershowitz as saying, “I can’t help but think that [D’Souza’s] politics have something to do with it. … It smacks of selective prosecution.”

“To dispel this sort of public perception that Mr. D’Souza may have been targeted because of his outspoken criticisms of the President, it is important for the FBI to be transparent regarding the precise origin of this investigation,” the senators write.

When the indictment was announced, U.S. Attorney Preet Bhara’s office said that the indictment was “the result of a routine review” by the FBI of campaign filings with the Federal Election Commission.

But no “details regarding the scope and methodology” of the review was provided, the senators point out in their letter. They ask Comey to explain the history behind FBI reviews of campaign filings and how the FBI conducts the reviews — how it determines which filings to review, how long is spent on each review, which government entities are involved, among other questions.; 8/4/14, 8:56 AM
Birkel said...: I hope some of those awful white people who defend First Amendment civil liberties take his case pro bono. Then they can defend this man from whitey police officers who are horrible human beings on account of some dead white people owning slaves -- like every other group in history has -- in some long-dead past.

With whites on either side of this dispute, I hope they both lose. And I hope civil liberties win.; 8/4/14, 9:32 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: Since the police there have murdered someone, it seems wise to carry a firearm.; 8/4/14, 9:33 AM
Hagar said...: A .25 is more like a cop's ankle gun.; 8/4/14, 9:57 AM
mccullough said...: I'm surprised he didn't escape from the island after recording the video.

I suppose it's some progress on the NYPD that they didn't kill him.; 8/4/14, 10:18 AM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: Maybe he had the gun, maybe he didn't.

Do the cops have a video?; 8/4/14, 10:40 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: They choked a guy to death in broad daylight, in front of dozens of witnesses. In a rational world, all the people there would now go around armed.; 8/4/14, 10:42 AM
cubanbob said...: The Crack Emcee said...
Wow.

No, Police union officials, "what this showed" are the dangers of official desperation, and pettiness, now faced by citizens of this nation.

It's time for de Blasio to make some noise,...

8/4/14, 7:27 AM

Wow Crack I didn't know you were such an optimist, expecting De Blasio to make some noise.

I didn't see it in the article where it is mentioned Orta was a convicted criminal who would be in a position to lose his 2nd amendment rights so what constitutionally valid gun charge was he arrested for? And even if he was violating a valid law that does't exculpate the cops in the Garner case.; 8/4/14, 10:58 AM
GMC70 said...: This won't change the eventual outcome in the choking case. But it sends the message that NYPD wants to send to the next guy who thinks about exposing police corruption and brutality:

We will get you. You will pay. So put away that phone, stop that recording, and just move along and shut up.

I don't know if the gun really was in Orta's possession, or was a plant; either are a real possibility. I don't even care. The message was going to be sent anyway - if he didn't have the gun or other illegal item, they would have planted it.

The message had to be sent.; 8/4/14, 12:23 PM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: Freeman Hunt said...They choked a guy to death in broad daylight, in front of dozens of witnesses. In a rational world, all the people there would now go around armed.

Your concept of a rational world is one in which free citizens are allowed to provide for their own self defense. Many blue state residents do not agree with that definition.; 8/4/14, 1:21 PM
Bryan C said...: "He was carrying the gun in public, saw the cops coming and tried to pass the gun off to a 17 years old girl who was also arrested."

I'm sure if he applied for a permit, the cops would've given him one. Right?; 8/4/14, 1:40 PM
Cedarford said...: As America slowly collapses until we reach a point where it is necessary to suspend the Constitition and elections to save our civilization...it is time the libertarian/civil liberties crowd are told again and again -

NO RIGHTS OR "LIBERTIES" WILL EXIST FOR LONG WITHOUT CITIZENS RECOGNIZING THE SACRIFICES AND DUTIES NEEDED FOR THEM TO EXIST.

So no, libertarian assholes...you don't have a right to resist arrest, pull weapons on officers, refuse to go into your jail cell. Force will be used. And sometimes that means belligerant resisters get hurt, even die.
The trick to really cut down on that risk when dealing with cops is to comply with lawful orders as a DUTY!

Only in the world of libertarian assholes is it thought to be a major problem of gestapo pigs and "overly strict gun laws", the root cause when a career criminal black thug is nabbed with an illegal weapon.

Beware of thinking just because people wrote something on scraps of paper 230 years ago that you get this immutable bundle of goodies you don't have to work for.
Or in other lands - Muslim or socialist/communist freedoms, rights, and entitlements don't have to eventually have most people working hard and sometimes paying ultimate sorts of sacrifices to get and then preserve them in those countries.; 8/4/14, 3:49 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Why should the guy have to have a permit? If government officials are murdering people in your neighborhood, why would you ask for the government's permission to protect yourself? The onus is on the local government to restore the public trust.; 8/4/14, 4:29 PM