Chris LeDay helped the first video of cops fatally shooting Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, La. go viral, a day later, he was arrested himself in what he believes was retaliation by police officers.

LeDay, who lives in Atlanta, didn't film the shooting himself, he received it from a friend in Baton Rouge, where he once lived. The friend knew the woman who shot the footage at the Triple S market and told LeDay she was reluctant to post it.  LeDay says they knew he could make it go viral and he did. He helped it gain national attention when he posted it to his Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter accounts that all have large followings.  Media outlets and the New York Daily News’s Shaun King then shared his post widely.

LeDay recounted his arrest on Facebook, saying he was going to his job as a technician at Dobbins Air Reserve Base when he was suddenly detained by both military and civilian police officers.

LeDay later told the blog Photography Is Not a Crime that the officers told him he fit the description of someone wanted for battery.  After being cuffed and shackled, he was taken to the police station where he was then informed that he'd been arrested due to unpaid traffic tickets.  He spent the night in jail and was released after paying $1,231 in fines.  LeDay admitted to not paying the tickets because he couldn't afford them.  His license was suspended, but he told the blog he uses Uber to get to work.

LeDay told Photography Is Not a Crime that even though the charges were minor, he believes the police targeted him and made a big spectacle out of arresting him at work as a way to get back at him for posting the video.

The situation with LeDay has drawn comparisons to Ramsey Orta, the man who filmed the video of police and their fatal chokehold of Eric Garner.  Orta was arrested soon after the video garnered national attention, and was charged with criminal possession of an unloaded weapon.  He was arrested again several times after the video including charges of domestic violence, and selling drugs to an undercover officer.  Orta believes he was targeted by police for shooting the video.  On Wednesday (July 6), Orta took a plea deal on drugs and weapons charges and is likely to serve four years in jail.  A grand jury declined to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo who was involved in the confrontation with Garner.

Source: complex.com| Photo cred: Facebook