--- description: TIME talks with the man who filmed the fatal incident on Staten Island title: Eric Garner Video: Staten Island Police Chokehold Death image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta6552b43e9ac6159/69869ca9e8524b31f4603fd5/eric-garner-police-brutality-ramsey-orta.jpg?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Behind the Video of Eric Garner's Deadly Confrontation With New York Police by [Josh Sanburn](/author/josh-sanburn/) ## Josh Sanburn Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 22, 2014 7:55 PM CUT  Ramsey Orta by [Josh Sanburn](/author/josh-sanburn/) ## Josh Sanburn Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 22, 2014 7:55 PM CUT **Updated July 23, 2014** On July 17, Ramsey Orta was talking to his friend, Eric Garner, about where to eat dinner — Friday’s, maybe, or Applebee’s. They eventually decided on Buffalo Wild Wings, but Garner never made it. Soon, a fight broke out nearby, Orta says, and after Garner helped break it up, New York Police Department officers on the scene accused Garner of selling untaxed cigarettes and attempted to arrest him. Garner, a 43-year-old father of six who was unarmed at the time, argued with the officers about why he was being targeted. To corral Garner, one officer used what appeared to be a chokehold, a technique banned by the NYPD. Several others helped drag him to the ground. Garner, who had a history of health problems, died soon after. Orta recorded the incident on his phone and the video has helped turn the fatal encounter from a local tragedy into a national debate over the use of force by police. Orta, 22, says he’s known Garner for several years and called him “the neighborhood dad.” Orta’s video shows what appears to be one officer pressing Garner’s face into the sidewalk as other officers attempt to subdue him. On the ground, Garner can be heard repeatedly saying “I can’t breathe.” “I felt like they treated him wrong even after the fact that they had him contained,” Orta says. Since Orta’s video became public after being published by the New York Daily News, the officer who grabbed Garner by the neck, Daniel Pantaleo, was ordered to turn in his badge and gun; another was reassigned to desk duty. The four emergency medical workers who responded to the scene have also been suspended without pay. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said he was “very troubled” by the footage, and both prosecutors and the NYPD are investigating the incident. Patrick J. Lynch, the president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, [criticized](http://www.nycpba.org/releases/pr140719-duty.html "undefined") the department’s response as “a completely unwarranted, kneejerk reaction for political reasons and nothing more.” Orta [recorded](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiTS5wnNuLo "undefined") another violent arrest at the same location in Staten Island a week earlier. He says officers have harassed him since the Garner video became public, but he says he isn’t likely to put his camera away if something happens in his Staten Island neighborhood again. “It just gives me more power to not be afraid to pull out my camera anytime,” he says. “Even if they’re pushing me back, I might just like keep going forward and if I get arrested, hey, I got something on camera.” **_Video reported by Paul Moakley, edited by Raymond Chu_** _Read next:_ [_No Charges for Officer Who Put Eric Garner in Deadly Chokehold_](http://time.com/3616780/eric-garner-chokehold-new-york-staten-lisland/?xid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") ### Witness Protesters Taking Over the Streets After the Eric Garner Grand Jury Decision  A group of protesters rally against a grand jury's decision not to indict the police officer involved in the death of Eric Garner occupy the eastbound traffic lanes of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City in the early morning hours of Dec. 4, 2014. Jason DeCrow—AP  Protestors block 15th Street near Pennsylvania Avenue to protest the Staten Island grand jury's decision not to indict officer Daniel Pantaleo in the Eric Garner chokehold case in Washington on Dec. 3, 2014. Jim Lo Scalzo—EPA  Demonstrators march through the streets of New York City on Dec. 3, 2014. Andrew Burton—Getty Images  Regina Bates speaks during a demonstration in Oakland, Calif. on Dec. 3, 2014. Elijah Nouvelage—Getty Images  Police stand guard on the West Side highway as protesters block traffic in New York City on Dec. 3, 2014. Shannon Stapleton—Reuters  Anwar Thurston, 36, joined demonstrators who gathered to protest the Eric Garner grand jury decision during a Christmas Tree lighting ceremony at City Hall in Philadelphia on Dec. 3, 2014. Mark Makela—Getty Images  A demonstrator cries while gathering to protest the Eric Garner grand jury decision during a Christmas Tree lighting ceremony at City Hall in Philadelphia on Dec. 3, 2014. Mark Makela—Getty Images  Demonstrators block traffic on Highway I-395 in Washington on Dec. 3, 2014. T.J. Kirkpatrick—Getty Images  Protestors lay down in Grand Central Station during a protest in New York City on Dec. 3, 2014. Timothy A. Clary—AFP/Getty Images  People take part in a protest against the grand jury decision on the death of Eric Garner in midtown Manhattan in New York City on Dec. 3, 2014. Eric Thayer—Reuters  Protesters raise their arms and chant at police officers in Times Square in New York City on Dec. 3, 2014. Caitlin Ochs—Polaris  Demonstrators march in protest on the streets of St. Louis on Dec. 3, 2014. Michael B. Thomas—AFP/Getty Images  Police officers block protesters from marching up a highway entrance ramp near Times Square in New York City on Dec. 3, 2014. Seth Wenig—AP  A man holding a child walks with protesters as they march past Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Dec. 3, 2014. Adrees Latif—Reuters  Atlanta Police face off with protesters blocking Spring Street in Atlanta on Dec. 3, 2014. Erik S. Lesser—EPA  A demonstrator stands next to a makeshift memorial where Eric Garner died during an arrest in July in the Staten Island borough of New York City on Dec. 3, 2014. Shannon Stapleton—Reuters ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3016326/eric-garner-video-police-chokehold-death/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3016326/eric-garner-video-police-chokehold-death/"},"headline":"Behind the Video of Eric Garner's Deadly Confrontation With New York Police","datePublished":"2014-07-22T19:55:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:08:03.176Z","description":"TIME talks with the man who filmed the fatal incident on Staten Island","url":"https://time.com/3016326/eric-garner-video-police-chokehold-death/","keywords":["Crime","NYPD","Police Brutality","staten island","Eric Garner"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta6552b43e9ac6159/69869ca9e8524b31f4603fd5/eric-garner-police-brutality-ramsey-orta.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Josh Sanburn","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/josh-sanburn/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta6552b43e9ac6159/69869ca9e8524b31f4603fd5/eric-garner-police-brutality-ramsey-orta.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Eric Garner Police Brutality Death","caption":"Eric Garner Police Brutality Death","creditText":"Ramsey Orta","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3016326/eric-garner-video-police-chokehold-death/","name":"Behind the Video of Eric Garner's Deadly Confrontation With New York Police"}}]}] ```