NYPD to investigate pepper spraying at protest

NEW YORK - The Police Department will look into a complaint that an officer wrongly used pepper spray at a demonstration against Wall Street last week, Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Wednesday.

Internal affairs will investigate the claim made by a 25-year-old woman and others, Kelly said. Video from Saturday's Union Square incident shows an officer blasting a cluster of women with pepper spray. Two of the women crumple on the sidewalk in pain. One screams.

Kelly says the video leaves out tumultuous conduct by protesters who illegally tried to block streets. There have been about a hundred arrested since the protests began more than a week ago, mostly on disorderly conduct charges. A handful were arrested on more serious charges of assaulting a police officer and obstructing governmental administration.

The city's Civilian Complaint Review Board received a complaint on the pepper spray and is also investigating, but the board does not have the ability to enforce any type of disciplinary action against officers.

View the video the sparked that complaints
Susan Sarandon lends support to Wall Street protest
Michael Moore helps to "Occupy Wall Street"

An online group that says it is part of the protest in lower Manhattan posted the officer's personal details online, including the names of his family and the address where his children attend school, with the threat "Before you commit atrocities against innocent people, think twice."

Kelly said the move was "despicable."

The officers union issued a statement saying the man's motivations in using the spray were out of concern for the safety of officers under his command and the safety of the public.

"The limited use of pepper spray effectively restored order without any escalation of violence, use of force or serious injury to either demonstrator or police officer," according to the statement from the NYPD Captains Endowment Association.

The group "Occupy Wall Street" has been camping out in a privately-owned plaza several blocks from the actual Wall Street and has no specific message or specific demand. Some demonstrators have said they were against Wall Street greed, others say they are protesting global warming and still others say they are protesting "the man."

The company that owns the plaza, Brookfield Properties, said it was intended for general public use and passive recreation. "We are extremely concerned with the conditions that have been created by those currently occupying the park and are actively working with the City of New York to address these conditions and restore the park to its intended purpose," the company said in a emailed statement.

[sickofbeingsickandtired]

well ..our streets are beginning to look like streets in all of these countries that have a corrupt government and a population that has reached the end of the rope. Our NYPD is looking like the gangster military police of those same countries . What's next? Are we all going to grab guns and run the government out and take over ransack our capital?..what are we becoming?

[lami987]

Just like many politicians in Washington, all US major news are under Wall Street's control. That's why there is very little info, if any, about occupywallst.org. That organization started protest against greed in Wall Street more than a week ago. They are against WS bailout and WS do nothing for the good of main street. Its too complicated for CBS reporters to know all this. They report whatever WS permit them to. I learned of the protest thru BBC news and saw brutality of New York cops. And saw Anthony Bologna pepper-sprayed the female demonstrators then walked away without giving medical attention to the victims. The victims were not violent when they were sprayed. It would be nice if Bologna's eyes were pepper-sprayed then left to suffer. Looks like many New York cops were trained in Syria.

[ddaryl1]

I watched the videos and there was NO reason for the pepper spraying incident in question..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ05rWx1pig

There is also some very obvious abuse of power happening.

This is just the beginning as now is the time to rise up against the BS Wallstreet is causing this world.

What's good for money is not what is best for humanity.... but for some money is much more important

[howlwho]

Way to skew the story in the favor of the pigs CBS. This article is completely false, and there is plenty of video footage to verify that. Please do yourself a favor and get educated on the matters at hand instead of reporting falsehood in the name of Wall Street greed.

This group is organized, and they do have a mission, contrary to what CBS would have you believe.

http://occupytogether.org/

[Imthaid2]

Cops earn EVERY bit of disrespect they are shown. And, they are too stupid to realize these people are fighting for their rights, too. Dumb pigs!

[nomorelibs]

You're pathetic

[nycprof]

It is a shame that CBS makes the protests seem disorganized. The battle cry is "we are the 99%". "The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%."

Once again the corporate media is not letting the real message get out.

[ddaryl1]

bugwhips biy are you a ___ass or what

[commenter777]

Can't some Lawyers get involved in this? There have got to be many Lawyers that believe that what these protesters are doing is good for the country, of course. It's not my profession but if it was I'd do something.

[ddaryl1]

there is a group of Lawyers stepping up.. but more people need to get these stories out to the public, they are being squashed in the media

[commenter777]

We need an impartial group to investigate. The nypd investigating itself is hardly non-biased. It's ridiculous that the police do their own investigations of themselves.

[ihaveonethingtosay]

It would be interesting to find out any connection that "Brookfield Properties", owners of the Plaza Park, has to wall street and why the NYPD is passing the buck to them . . .

[ihaveonethingtosay]

It would be interesting to find out any connection that "Brookfield Properties", owners of the Plaza Park, has to wall street and why the NYPD is passing the buck to them . . .