Anonymous Outs NYPD Officer Who Pepper-Sprayed Occupy Wall Street Protesters

 

The loosely organized hacker collective Anonymous has identified NYPD Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna as the man seen pepper-spraying two women unprovoked at the Occupy Wall Street protest over the weekend, but they're not just leaving it at that. The Internet vigilantes, using photographic evidence of Bologna on the scene and a close-up of his badge, wasted no time in putting together a file on the officer, including a possible phone number, addresses, and the names of his family members, warning ominously, "Before you commit atrocities against innocent people, think twice. WE ARE WATCHING!!! Expect Us!"

Occupy Wall Street spokesman Patrick Bruner told us today that he was made aware of Bologna's identity last night, but opted not to release it. "We hadn't yet come to a consensus on how to approach the situation, which we saw as potentially volatile," Bruner said. "To bring his family and his home into it is something I find personally unacceptable." But make no mistake: Bologna's actions were "demonic," Bruner stressed, and now that the officer's name is known, Occupy Wall Street is demanding the city take action.

Bruner said the protesters were considering organizing a citizen's arrest of Officer Bologna, but maintained that the group remains committed to nonviolence, even in the face of this "graphic" abuse of power. To counter the NYPD claim that the video was misleadingly edited, Occupy Wall Street has posted three different versions of the events, along with the following message:

We demand that he is charged for his crimes. We demand that he receives jail time.

We demand that Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly resigns. Not only can he not control his most senior officers, he is involved in actively sheltering them from receiving any punishment.

We demand that Mayor Michael Bloomberg address our General Assembly and apologize for the police brutality and the cover-up that followed.

One protester who was hit by some of the spray writes today that, as she struggled to rinse her eyes, she heard another NYPD officer, a "blue-shirt," remark in disbelief, "I can't believe he just fuckin' maced her." Chelsea Elliott, a 25-year-old protester hit directly by the spray, tells her side here. (A 2001 report dug up by the intelligence blog Cyptome called Lieutenant Bologna "notorious for his previous treatment of protestors.")

In May of last year, Bologna was moved as the commanding officer of lower Manhattan's first precinct and reassigned to the Patrol Borough Manhattan South. "You do what they give you and you do your best," Bologna said at the time. "I'm looking forward to new challenges."

Here's the clip again, with alternate versions on view here:

Previously: Police Use Forceful Tactics and Mace at ‘Occupy Wall Street’ Protests [NYM]
Officer Bologna [Occupy Wall Street]
Occupy Wall Street March Turns Violent [Davids Camera Craft]

Read more posts by Joe Coscarelli

Filed Under: occupy wall street, anthony bologna, civil disobedience, wall street

Anonymous Outs NYPD Officer Who Pepper-Sprayed Occupy Wall Street Protesters
Joe Coscarelli
Mon, 26 Sep 2011 21:32:00 GMT