A Statement of Truth: Ramsey Orta, Domestic Violence & Accountability in the Movement

January 16, 2016 WITNESS, Harlem Copwatch and WeCopwatch . Photo by: Adriel Antonnio Dante Rozsahegyi-Gonzalez Bella Eiko, Ramsey Orta, Kevin Moore, Julien A Terrel, Yvette Alberdingkthijm

Over the past four years, I have tried to heal from the abuse I experienced in my marriage to Ramsey Orta (the man who filmed the murder of Eric Garner). I gave him my full support during this time, and in return I was met only with violence. I joined this movement hoping my son and I would matter in this fight for Black Lives, but clearly we have been missing from the conversation. Now that Ramsey is out of prison, it is clear that I have not been heard despite my efforts and I once again feel the need to speak publicly about what happened and what I need to move forward. If defunding the police is a real goal, then the process of restorative justice needs to be established. We can do that by focusing on holding ourselves accountable within the movement, and by doing so, create an environment where we can thrive in solidarity while fighting to reach our goals together. 

The Following Points Were Written In Response to Parts of Ramsey's Statement

• Many of us have had troubled childhoods, abusive relationships, and broken families. However, the path to growth has almost always included accountability and making amends when possible. We cannot continue to excuse someone's abusive actions towards others because of their past. That is work we as individuals should take into our own hands with our own community instead of putting that emotional and physical labor on the black women in our lives.

• ​It is often that we excuse misogynist actions from men because of past trauma they've lived. however we have normalized black women being put in positions to take the nurturing role where she must endure all her husband/boyfriends unaccounted for bad behaviors. We must learn to do better. We should not be teaching our children that women are meant to be crutches for men who do not want to individually work on themselves. This is not a position that a black woman accepts when she gets into a romantic relationship, it is forced upon her. I would like for Ramsey to acknowledge and admit to the violence he exposed my son to and inflicted upon me. My son deserves an apology. 
• While I am sympathetic to the process of transitioning from having traumatic events upset your entire life, there are some traumatic events that I can’t get past as they’ve upset MY entire life. I could never imagine filming a man while he’s being choked to death. I could never imagine gaining notoriety and wealth from said footage and then choking my spouse until they couldn’t breathe while continuing to organize under the banners of “I Can’t Breathe” and “Black Lives Matter”. If Ramsey is really willing to take accountability he should know that the right choice is to step back and truly work on himself. He has not been honest to the cause by perpetuating the same violence the state committed against him, against me, his wife. A fact that he is not even acknowledging as he again attempts to erase everything I went through as his wife and all I have put up with or even the fact that he is still married and has been since 2015 yet he is openly parading a fiancé. I would like for Ramsey to grant me a divorce, something I have been trying to do but could not afford. ​

• I do not want a future where the abuse of Black Women is normalized by any organization that claims to work for, help, or educate the people. 
• Ramsey has many supporters that “battle” for him. They fight any narrative that doesn’t idolize him for filming the video and releasing it which is highly irresponsible and breeds a culture of misogyny where Black Women and the issues that plague them go ignored because there is no accountability for him no matter how bad the offenses he has committed. 
• You can appreciate the video without idolizing the man. 

December 18, 2015 We were married

• We Cop Watch aided and shielded Ramsey from responsibility/accountability while claiming that one of the mission’s foundational principles is to hold police accountable, and to teach others how to do that. Especially when they commit violent offenses against people in the line of duty. This is highly hypocritical. ironic actions call into question the integrity of Ramsey Orta and the organization that knowingly rallied behind him to silence me, erasing what was done to me to further the We Cop Watch agenda. Why did they not hold him accountable for the violent offenses he committed against me? ​

I Would like for We Copwatch, and specifically Jacob to take accountability for their part in attempting to silence me and I would like for Ramsey to admit using his position in We Copwatch to further help the movement erase my experience.

• ​Because I was on a true path of growth, my actions have always matched my claims as a Black Woman, activist and single mother. I may have stumbled along the way,

Rally before he defended himself at Staten Island Courthouse. (Andrew Lamberson/for New York Daily News)

but you can literally watch my path of growth, as many have over the years, through my attempts to also contribute to the movement and Black Liberation everywhere. Basically, I always reinvested back into myself AND the movement. From the Operation Mobile Cafe that serviced one of the most drug infested areas of East Oakland to feeding 100 families per week in Belize, supporting live streamers and activists across the nation while doing everything in my power to highlight the voices of the oppressed. With or without receiving donations, as far as my feet could carry me, I would stand in solidarity with my comrades in the struggle, and am asking for the same in return now. To those who didn’t know or didn’t listen before, here is your chance. 

• Using the video, his imprisonment, which was NOT because he filmed the video, and involvement with We Cop Watch is wrong and irresponsible and if we want to defund the police for these things, then we have to hold organizations and people within the movement to the same standards. 
• We can NOT continue to shield abusers while we silence survivors! We need to come together and help with restorative justice. There doesn’t need to be an internal battle within the movement when there could be progress. I tried for the first 2 years of our marriage. Now, I’m trying again. Please help me. ​

​While I am also grateful there was documentation and awareness surrounding the death of Eric Garner, I cannot celebrate the man who filmed it. Throughout the course of our marriage I have learned about his manipulative ways and how he uses that video to shield him from any form of accountability to those he has hurt. 

No accountability
No remorse
No communication
No restorative justice

This man is not a hero and we should not support him in any way that does not equal justice for my son and I and growth for the movement as a whole. 
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Thank you to all who have taken the time to read, listen, share and advocate. 

Much love & All Power to the People

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DIVORCE & SUPPORT FUND