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Lawrence O’Donnell’s Report On Officer’s Use Of Pepper Spray On Protestors Leads To Investigation

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On The Last Word Wednesday night, Lawrence O’Donnell shared how he had brought national attention to an incident that had occurred over the weekend during the Occupy Wall Street protest: A few NYPD police officers (and one high-ranking officer in particular) responded to the protests with force and the use of pepper spray. He showed video footage of the attacks — both at regular speed and in slow-motion — taken by witnesses that showed NYPD officers dragging a protester across an asphalt street as well as one officer who indiscriminately sprayed pepper spray into a group of people who were walking away from him.

O’Donnell reported that The New York Times has now confirmed the name and rank of that pepper spraying officer: He is Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna. O’Donnell added that, on Monday, the police department insisted that the officers’ use of force and pepper spray were “appropriate.” However, council member Peter Vallone (who represents Astoria and surrounding communities) looked at the footage and opined that the use of pepper spray “didn’t look good.”

O’Donnell stressed that the group of people who were sprayed had been walking away from the officer and were not resisting arrest or acting violently, nor was Officer Bologna even attempting to implement the use of force as a means of arresting anyone. Since The Last Word‘s report, Officer Bologna’s use of pepper spray will be investigated, as O’Donnell predicted on Monday.

Watch the report, via MSNBC:

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  • http://twitter.com/runforfun54 Ilene K

    OK, Michelle, ok Pablo – now what do you say? Want to try and accuse Lawrence O’Donnell of doctoring the video?  You are both so.. so … teabaggish!

  • Texan

    rent free….

    Btw, why do neoprogs hate the police?

  • QWE

    kasich, a tbag, called them idiots

  • Anonymous

    he will be fine IIene , he is in a union

  • Colonel Lingus

    Because some cops, like Deputy Inspector Bologna are fucking assholes.

  • Anonymous

    Texan can’t help it, he’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer.  

  • Anonymous

    Maybe the cop thought he was spraying deodorizer.

    The victim will be ok, Daddy has tons of money.  Is there anything more annoying than rich, white, liberals stinking of patchouli?

  • Charles_strickland

    a made up war and a tax break for the rich Obama is a sissy

  • Texan

    You’ve seen obamas grades? Can you post a link, dummy?

  • Anonymous

    You birthers are just upset that the birth certificate incident blew up in your faces.  Why didn’t we get to see Reagan’s grades?  

  • http://twitter.com/DreadfulPenny81 Melissa E.

    If you actually watch the video, you’ll notice that the person in the green shirt who fell to the ground with a police officer had grabbed that officer’s night stick/billy club and was attempting to assault him with it. This is the second angle I’ve seen this from and if the people in support of these protests want to use it to show alleged police brutality, then obviously the tape doesn’t lie about what the protester was doing. The woman who were pepper-sprayed didn’t move away from the officers until AFTER they’d been sprayed. Before that, they were grabbing at the officers and trying to interfere with arrests while the police were trying to keep the peace. The cops are doing what they can because 10 to 1 says this protest was done without a permit, so they had little to no idea about the route the protesters would be taking when they marched, how many people were in the crowd. Those are things that are fleshed out in the permit process. We have freedom of speech in this country but there also has to be some order or else there would be chaos in the streets.

  • http://www.scoamf.com/2011/08/hitler-realizes-obama-is-stuttering.html Unicon

    I predict this movement will be (almost) as popular as the coffee party !!

  • Anonymous

    I am so glad for the objective and professional reportage of Mr. O’Donnell.  He went on and on for over 8 minutes!  Very thorough.  Moreover, I suspect O’Donnell has as much respect and admiration for Police as he does for the Military?  (Sarcasm)

    ODonnell did say that that MOST Police Officer conducted themselves in a professional manner, but, later went onto say that the real heros that day were the protestors?  Huh?

    I did not see a problem as, typically, a protest of that nature is a deliberate melee.  If your there, with that kind of attitude, (YES ATTITUDE) it is entirely possible that your behavior will change or, you’ll get caught up in the moment.  (Group psychology)

    The Chief Inspector stepped between a fellow Police Officer and a woman walking somewhat, side by side.  The Inspector then sprayed the people whose actions prior too being sprayed, I could NOT determine?  What was the incentive for Chief Inspector Bologna to put two others at risk of being hit, (one a fellow cop) so he could spray others farther down the the street?  At this point, I don’t know…

    I KNOW ONE THING, I’VE BEEN TO A NUMBER OF TEA PARTIES, AND NO ONE EVER CAME CLOSE TO GETTING MACED!  I think we all know why, don’t we?

    Purveyor of Rhetoric

  • Anonymous

    I don’t know YODA, those Texan’s, generally speaking, all know how to keep a knife, nice and sharp?

    By the way, so do I.  LOL

  • Anonymous

    He of the vulgar play on words…  LOL

  • Anonymous

    Not all Texans are the sharpest knife in the drawer or for that matter the sharpest tool in the shed. LOL 

  • Anonymous

    You know, both O’Donnell and Chris Matthews have a peculiar and similar delivery.  I keep expecting a thick lizard like tongue to protrude, then fleck from side to side, before retreating within, whatever it is lizard’s have for lips?

    Purveyor

  • Anonymous

    Your perspective on this as a Punk Rock Libertarian is HILARIOUS!

    There is no wonder why your ‘record label’ is broke and you work a regular job!

    The Market Has Spoke!!!

    BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!

  • Anonymous

    Bad day at the drum circle, Grafx?

    I predict Wall Street will be cleared when Phish starts touring again.

  • Anonymous

    Boring as usual.

    At least you’ve given up the Pirsig schtick.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_H6I4PE37GZXPQYY3M2GZ4WCGDE Handoverfest

    wow, that is SAD, NYPD has been doing lot of unethical things lately and they NEED to be HELD accountable….

  • Anonymous

    Actually I surfed until sunset, Turk. 

    I worked half day today because sales have been good and the guys that work for me can handle it!

    I’ve heard of Phish but haven’t never actually heard Phish so I can’t help you there, Punker.

    Keep working at it though, Turk! The market smiles on hard work!

  • Anonymous

    IMO O’Donnell is infamous for making a mountain out of a molehill.

    Not this time.

    Good job, Lawrence.

  • Spo101

    I’m not anti-police, I’m anti-abuse of power… but the video of
    police violating 1st Amendment rights of the Occupy Wall St supporters
    is more than I can take.

    Funny, how public sector workers such as police and corrections
    officers expect Americans to protect their job/pension/health care
    security from Republican/Conservative spending cuts (examples in
    Wisconsin and Ohio). But then the police union/association
    members pay us back by beating, gas, shoot with rubber bullets and
    wrongfully arresting Concerned Citizens demanding accountability from
    the Wall St con-artists who ruined our economy.

    It seems the real criminals have had police and secret service
    protection. I’m on my way to the Wall Street Campground at 11 Wall St.
    to re-join my activist brothers and sisters in the Occupy Wall Street
    movement. The Class War has begun and the LAW better get out of the way.

    Back in the late 90′s while the Newt Gingrich and Tom Delay were busy
    selling out the American middle class for a very few silver spoon
    trust fund babies… I don’t remember the public sector union workers
    standing up for their private sector union brothers and sisters.

    This rant is for all you Johnny-come-lately’s speaking out for the
    working class. I’ve been part of an accountability movement since the
    late 90′s. The newspaper headline we used is from 4/16/99, titled: “Mattel to layoff 3,000 workers. WALL STREET CHEERED the news of restructuring, sending Mattel’s stock up nearly 16 percent…”

    WHAT? We all know how IT turned out now that our children had all the latest LEAD based toys from China.

    Questions one must ask: How did Wall Street become the enemy of the
    American working class? What did the 90′s Congress legislate to make it
    easy for Corporations to move jobs out of the country? Would the
    police of the time blame 3000 Mattel workers for being VERY angry?
    Because that news article was about as “in your face” as it gets… (See where Michael Moore got his “Last Word” talking points from cyberbitchslap2.blogspot.com)
     

  • ROTFLMAO

    Hell, if O’Donnell keeps this up he is going to build his viewers up to 3 or 4 dozen.

  • BR

    Didnt blow up in their faces.  Obama was once again hiding behind his skin color.

  • Glutton

    Texan may not be the sharpest tool but he is a tool nonetheless.  

  • Glutton

    Hiding behind his skin color?  So did he stand in front of a background that was the same color as his skin tone?

  • Glutton

    Yes, redneck conservatives that live in trailer parks and think they’re “rich” because they’re Republican and white.

  • Anonymous

    Yawn. Hand full of clueless hippies looking for a reason to protest something, anything get pepper sprayed. Get a f*cking job losers, and get O’Donnell a real job too.

    Morons, absolute morons.

  • Anonymous

    I don’t “schtick” anybody, rather, people “schtick” me!

    Have you ever owned a motocycle? What kind? Was it a “breath, push, bang, blow model? What was the valve clearance? (Don’t lie, cause I’ll know)

    I actually have (own) an 08 Triumph Thruxton in my work shop. Along with a 83 Honda 1100 F, punched out to 1123… I used to race to race Super Bikes, Have you ever raced Super Bikes? LOL

  • Anonymous

    In fairness and honesty, let us not forget who went by the ‘nom de plume’, “Schmegma” briefly?  Ouch!

    Purveyor

  • TruDat

    “On The Last Word Wednesday night, Lawrence O’Donnell shared how he had brought national attention to an incident that had occurred …”

    Typically Crazy Larry, telling anyone who will listen (i.e., nobody) just how swell he is.

  • TruDat

     Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna should be reprimanded for not caving in their skulls with his nightstick.

  • Anonymous

    I was just thinking about you, where you had scurried off too, and here you are.  Typically insufferable…

    Ouch!

    Purveyor of Rhetoric

  • TruDat

    That’s a big 10-4 on that one!

  • Anonymous

    take a break redneck racist…..you lying. stealing, dirty, no good scumbag teabagging asswipes cant and wont win anything….in the end civility wins…lying your way to the whitehouse wont work…Obama owns you…Cain wont change that…..now pucker up and place ya lips firmly on Obamas black ass

  • ROTFLMAO

    OUCH!!
    lol

  • Anonymous

    I guess freedom of speech is only good for people like you.
    Sounds like your skull is alrady caved in.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jj-Wisniewski/100002654075475 Jj Wisniewski

    Why isn’t the tea party also involved in these protests. Afterall, tea partiers hated TARP of the too big to fail corrupt and greedy Wall Street institutions.

  • TruDat

    Oh no, I’m offended.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_VYUK3HIJFCPFBZUHRHN6HCR5AA MarkfromSavannah

    Ah yes – The old ‘live in trailer park’ mantra so prevelant amongst liberals who really don’t have anything important to say.

    You hungover or still suffering the effects of an all night bender?

  • TruDat

    Tea Partiers don’t engage in violent protest like lefty-loons do.

  • Anonymous

    You are neither offended nor, apparently, particularly bright.

  • TruDat

    Thanks for participating.

  • LarryB

    Nice of MSNBC to attempt to catch up to the social media on reporting this story. The mainstream media has tried hard to ignore this story because they can’t put a label on it. Republican mouthpieces are afraid it might cast the wealthy in a bad light. Democratic mouthpieces are afraid it will cast Obama and his bailouts in a bad light. Since the mainstream media has failed to explain it to the masses, it is no wonder people are downplaying it or oblivious to it. If you ask 100 protestors why they are out there you will likely get 100 different answers, but there is one common theme- this country is in big trouble. This isn’t a Republican vs Democrat story, this is a David vs Goliath story. Our government has become Goliath, and are doing a great job of turning our country into a police state. And the saddest part isn’t the thug cop macing people in their faces for doing their civic duty, it is the people who are defending his actions. Those people are spitting on the Constitution of the United States.

  • Anonymous

    That’s odd you see what you see.  I saw no grabbing of a billy club, or any attempt at asaulting the police officer/s. I see it as the guy in the green shirt being manhandled by the police officer/s because he was recording what was going on. In NY apparently, that’s a no no.

  • Anonymous

    I’m confused.  The only accusations of violence I have seen have been against the police.

  • Anonymous

    Only the liberal lefty loon police.
    You are stuck on libtard media…..research the Internet and you will see the violent….and threatening videos.
     

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Theresa-Darklady-Reed/581698361 Theresa ‘Darklady’ Reed

    Yeah, people that smell of Tea Baggers who delight in the pain of liberal protesters and then whine like little bitches if a conservative protester even gets a funny look. 

    Watching that woman dragged *from inside* the police barricade out into the street by her shirt collar reminded me of a photo I saw in the Holocaust Museum of a WWII officer dragging a female protester through the streets by her hair.

    BTW — some of the folks who got maced that day weren’t protesting. They include other cops and people trying to get into the businesses being surrounded by the barricade. 

  • http://twitter.com/DreadfulPenny81 Melissa E.

     Then you obviously need to have your eyes examined.

  • Anonymous

    I’d say it’s the other way around.

  • john.kliber

    Now if he’d only bring national attention to the DOJ, ATF ‘fast and furious’ gunrunning scandal instead of this local and unimportant story, he wouldn’t be seen as an Obama/Holder hand-holding propagandist for the Democratic Party. No one saying he has to come down on one side or the other but a journalist questions and doesn’t sweep it under the rug until some other journalist breaks the story in a way that cannot be denied and that’s what MSNBC is waiting for with the gun scandal. They don’t want to upset Obama’s re-election cuz that would be “news.”

    This guy likes to pretend he’s some kind of a cutting edge, hard questioning journalist but he’s just a blogger with a high profile job who retreads soft stories and breaks nothing. Next he’ll be posting video of kitties in trees.

  • john.kliber

    Where was Officer Bubbles?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGMTm3QRwEc

  • Anonymous

    Respectfully, There are “time, place and manner considerations” to the 1st amendment.  The 1st amendment is NOT absolute.  Google–(Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire)  Good summary…

    Where would you draw the line at a woman entering an abortion clinic and the religious protestors who view impeding the woman’s way as their freedom of expression?

    Where would you draw the line at a war heros funeral and an anti-war groups protest being so loud the funeral is affected?

    Is pornography free speech?

    Is a stripper expressing her rights?

    Its a bit complicated isn’t it?

    Sincerely, Purveyor

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