Tony Bologna Sued for Pepper-Spraying Occupy Wall Street Protesters
This will be one to watch...
Via:
A high-ranking cop who pepper-sprayed penned-in Occupy Wall Street protesters has been zapped with a lawsuit by two women who were in the line of fire.
Chelsea Elliott and Jeanne Mansfield are suing Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna in Manhattan Federal Court for blasting them in the face with pepper-spray during a protest last Sept. 24 near Union Square.
The incident was caught on video, and 1.5 million people watched it on YouTube, prompting outrage and drawing attention to the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Bologna was docked 10 days of vacation for violating NYPD regulations.
The lawsuit claims Bologna violated the women's civil rights, and is seeking unspecified damages from Bologna and NYC for "physical pain and mental suffering."
The ONLY way to stop police brutality is to sue the individual officers personally.
The lawsuits that simply extract millions of dollars from the city do nothing to stop the brutality.
The City of Oakland has paid out over $58 million from lawsuits for OPD misconduct in the last ten years (and signed several "binding" agreements in Federal courts to change their ways). However OPD continues to engage in precisely the same types of misconduct that led to the original lawsuits. On the other hand, City of Oakland funding for schools, libraries, parks and various social services have been cut.
Again: The ONLY way to stop police brutality is to sue the individual officers personally.
Every protestor brutalized, arrested for specious reasons, or otherwise mistreated by police should sue the individual officers and the city officials responsible for the misconduct .. should sue them personally, not only in their official capacity, but personally so they feel the bite. This would have a chlling effect on police misconduct not only towards the Occupy Movement but towards all persons in the US.
More power to Chelsea Elliott and Jeanne Mansfield - may their suffering not have been in vain!
When will government of the people, by the politicians, for the corporations perish from this Earth?
Not soon enough!
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