{"id":6058,"date":"2011-10-07T00:04:24","date_gmt":"2011-10-07T07:04:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=6058"},"modified":"2011-10-07T00:04:24","modified_gmt":"2011-10-07T07:04:24","slug":"police-supervisors-attack-demonstrators-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2011\/10\/07\/police-supervisors-attack-demonstrators-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Police supervisors attack demonstrators again"},"content":{"rendered":"

Occupy Wall Street protesters continue to show restraint in the face of what some are calling a police riot.  The violence is coming mostly from police supervisors, probably carrying out the will of Bloomberg\u2019s corporate cronies, and mostly not from the rank and file police.  Some demonstrators are performing acts of civil disobedience, intending to be arrested as a demonstration of their commitment.  But even those have been completely non violent.  Every time police supervisors are caught on tape carrying out the savage agenda of corporate criminals, the popularity and credibility of the demonstrators increase.  I commend their restraint.  Here\u2019s an overview.<\/font><\/p>\n

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\"7policebrutality\"<\/p>\n

Just before 8 p.m. Wednesday, reportedly at the corner of Broadway and Wall Street, a New York Police Department officer appeared to turn on a throng of activists with the Occupy Wall Street movement, hitting them with a baton. A video posted hours later to YouTube shows the officer wielding the baton with two hands — like a baseball bat — as he swings at and strikes the demonstrators<\/strong>. At one point, a woman can be heard shrieking in the background.<\/p>\n

The white-shirt cop, most likely a supervisor, had stood next to at least a half-dozen other officers, including other department brass<\/strong>. The video shows the officer appearing to nudge a spectator out of the way, back up and raise his baton. He then gets off three swings before the crowd appears to surge toward him — digital cameras and video recorders held high.<\/p>\n

This may be the first of many videos documenting clashes between the police and Occupy Wall Street. At the end of the video a few in the crowd chant: "The whole world is watching! The whole world is watching!<\/strong>"<\/p>\n

It is unclear from the video what provoked the officer’s actions, but HuffPost’s Matt Sledge, who was at the scene, reports the baton swinging took place after a handful of people had been arrested for attempting to cross a police barricade<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

When reached for comment Friday night, a New York Police Department spokesman who refused to be identified said he had heard about the video but had not seen it and therefore could not comment\u2026 [emphasis added<\/em>]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <Common Dreams<\/a>><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the video.<\/font><\/p>\n