As we watched your officers kettle innocent women, we observed you barberically pepper spray wildly into the group of kettled women. We were shocked and disgusted by your behavior. You know who the innocent women were, now they will have the chance to know who you are. Before you commit atrocities against innocent people, think twice. WE ARE WATCHING!!! Expect Us!
Anonymous
Deputy Inspector Bologna
The warning to NYPD Deputy Inspector Bologna came after he was seen to pepper spray[video] protestors from who had been cought and kettled in orange nets by NYPD cops on Saturday 24/09. The protestors were taking part in an Occupy Wall Street action as part of the ongoing occupation of a park near Wall Street, which began on 17/09 following an internet campaign and callout.
An activist who assisted one of the women noted:
"I still haven't washed off the splattered milk from my shoes. We had to use milk to wash the pepper spray out the woman's eyes. I still hear her screaming in pain, I can't believe they pepper sprayed a deaf woman. Her sobbing, saying how much it hurt as we held her head spraying milk into her eyes and on her face. The last time I saw her, we had to flee from the police who were arresting everyone on 12th street. She escaped into a movie theater with the help of others because she still couldn't open her eyes. After witnessing how much pain she was in I will never forget what this man did on a physical and emotional level to many people on Saturday. He created a war zone. I don't want to think that all of the NYPD is like this because I also met some very fine members of our cities police force on Saturday. Officers who cared about people and the protesters. I looked around at the police officers who were holding the net around us right after the pepper spray was discharged and they were flabbergasted. Three policemen were in the line of fire and almost got hit. Many of them stared down with sad eyes, not able to let go off the orange barrier to help a human being. They had to do their job but I know concern was in their minds.
As his details became known, it transpired that the same cop is at the centre of law suits over his behaviour towards protesters at the 2004 Republican National Convention . Broadcaster CBS reports that Bologna "has been given 24-hour protection at his home on Staten Island.".
On Sunday hundreds of NYPD officers swarmed on Union Square, arresting protesters and pepper spray was reported to have been used again. Protestors are planning to march on the NYPD HQ on Friday. An 'Officer Accountability Database' has also been set up.
The core goal of this project is to puncture the shield of anonymity that allows police to act inhumanely without facing consequences by creating a central hub for posting media that features police activities. Similar to a social networking site, each officer observed by protesters will have a "profile" with a head-shot and biographical information assembled by volunteer researchers. Once an officer's profile is established, occupiers will be able to upload subsequent photos, video, and written reports of events, and tag the officers to which their upload is relevant. This process will create a chronological record of police behavior on the individual level, and we ultimately aspire to partially automate the process through the inclusion of facial recognition software.
Repressive policing has failed to stop the protest, and other occupations have begun in Chicago and Denver with more cities joining over the next week. The occupations are currently engaging in a democratic process to agree a list of demands.
