Occupy Wall Street: Cop Disciplined For Using Pepper Spray

From the Daily Mail:

A New York City police inspector has been docked more than a third of his vacation time after he used pepper spray on anti-Wall Street protesters corralled by police on a sidewalk during an Occupy Wall Street rally.

Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna had 10 of his annual 27 vacation days docked as a disciplinary measure after the September 24 incident which took place near Union Square, shortly after the now-global protests began in a tiny private plaza in lower Manhattan.

He received a command discipline for ‘using pepper spray outside of department guidelines’ and was docked 10 vacation days, police said.

‘Deputy Inspector Bologna is disappointed at the results of the department investigation,’ said Roy Richter, president of the NYPD Captain’s Endowment Association.

‘His actions prevented further injury and escalation of tumultuous conduct,’ Mr Richter continued.

In this particular incident, demonstrators had meandered from their base in Zuccotti Park and spilled over into the streets, blocking traffic. Video from the protests shows a small group of mostly women corralled by orange netting used by officers to control crowds.

Bologna approaches and, seemingly without warning, blasts the cluster with pepper spray. Two of the women crumple on the sidewalk in pain. One screams.

The incident helped propel the movement into the national spotlight.

The full story is here.