By Cliff Montgomery – Sept. 30th, 2011
Those who get their information from the corporate media may not know that for the last several days, Wall Street–the corporate world’s Mecca, and Earth’s unofficial gambling capital–has been occupied by ordinary Americans.
The ongoing demonstration Occupy Wall Street is working to undo America’s current plutocracy. It also protests the lack of legal accountability for those financial gamblers whose incompetence and naked greed created the global financial collapse.
Since America is a naked plutocracy, perhaps it was inevitable that some policemen called in by the wealthy to watch over Wall Street would use excessive force to ‘control’ the crowds.
Currently at the top of this ‘policeman’s list of shame’ is New York Police Department (NYPD) Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna.
On at least two occasions Bologna has openly violated official policy by pepper-spraying defenseless, non- violent protesters without provocation.
Going from stupidity to stupidity, Bologna further violates official procedure by simply walking away from those he sprayed. Thus after attacking the protesters, he left them on the ground writhing in agony without providing the standard (and required) medical assistance.
Now a video has appeared which seems to have captured one of those attacks.
The London Guardian nicely wrapped up the situation in a story header which declared:
“Occupy Wall Street: Inquiries launched as new pepper-spray video emerges/ NYPD officer Anthony Bologna faces two investigations as video emerges of a second pepper-spray incident”
“The senior New York police officer at the center of the Occupy Wall Street pepper spray controversy fired the gas at protesters a second time just moments later,” states the Guardian article.
“After new video emerged on Wednesday showing the second incident,” continues the Guardian, “New York police commissioner Ray Kelly told reporters that the Civilian Complaint Review Board would investigate the officer, deputy inspector Anthony Bologna.”
“On both occasions, the officer appears to have violated New York Police Department guidance on how the gas should be used,” states the Guardian.
Though coverage of these notorious abuses has been relatively minor in America (with the notable exception of independent media), it has had an effect. NYPD’s internal affairs bureau has declared it will open an investigation into the attacks, according to The New York Times.
The Huffington Post has pointed out that Officer Bologna “was also the subject of civil-rights complaints stemming from protests during the 2004 Republican National Convention.”
“Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna had several lawsuits filed against him for his role during the large-scale protests held in New York seven years ago,” continued The Huffington Post, “when Republicans re-nominated George W. Bush at Madison Square Garden and over 1,800 people were arrested for protesting GOP policies and the Iraq War.”
