A video of a lieutenant, captain or inspector-rank police office hitting protesters with a baton has just emerged from the scene now near Occupy Wall Street’s headquarters at Zuccotti Park in the Financial District, where police are barricading the protesters with metal fences in order to control the large and agitated crowd. After today’s megamarch with the unions and students from at least five universities, protesters regrouped at Liberty Park Plaza around 6:30 p.m.
The Observer was all marched out–but the protesters weren’t. The number of union jackets dwindled, but marching continued in circles around the park.
Around 9 p.m., a cohort of marchers were cordoned off by police officers on Wall Street. It looked as though there would be mass arrests. The police ended up shuttling the protesters down Williams Street and directing them back toward the park. The strategy by the NYPD seemed to be erecting more barriers to limit where the protesters could march. The Broad St. J train was inaccessible, blockaded by the NYPD and metal fences on Exchange Place, Broad Street and Wall Street. A group of Wisconsin tourists who had a reservation at Bobby Van’s steakhouse were forced to turn back to Times Square.
The Observer was able to sneak past the barricade on Exchange Place due to the good fortune of running into a pair of well-dressed young startup founders of our acquaintance, who were also headed to the train but told the police they needed to get to the NYSE for the SAI 100 event. The cops were obviously tense.
Who coordinated the barricade?
“Chiefs,” one blue-shirt outside the Broad Street Starbucks said. “Lots of chiefs.”
“Too many chiefs in the kitchen?” one of the techies asked. The police officer affirmed.
But as we slipped through the cracks of the barricade, we could hear the cries of the protesters one street over. As of 10 a.m. Thursday, the official count from Occupy Wall Street is 27 arrests.
It’s unclear exactly what time this video was taken or what happened immediately beforehand to provoke the violence, but it was just posted to YouTube and shows a white-shirted police officer beating protesters with a baton:
UPDATE: Members of the FOX 5 crew also caught pepper spray and a baton.
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Obvious question: What happened before the start of the video?
doesn’t seem like he’s attempting an arrest and I didn’t seem him speaking. Looks like he was trying to hit a home run.
They’ll never show that, sure seemed like the cops were surronded though. It will get worse now that unions have joined, violence assured.
Last time I checked New York City police have a union themselves asshole. Unions are actually usually a moderating influence in these kind of protests.
Good point. I support the efforts of this protest, but it’s wrong to auto-demonize the police man and women there.
maybe if you bothered to learn something about institutionalized racism, police brutality, and the prison industrial complex you might think twice before giving the pigs the benefit of the doubt.
Yea, racism. LOL. That’s a white cop, surrounded by white protestors. In the Nypd whites are the minority. 2010 was the lowest number of police related shootings since 1971. But, yea cops are boogeymen. Let’s avoid the real issues OWS exists and turn it into a typical ” I hate cops, their mean, i got a ticket.” Sob Story
Wrong, Mary. None of the other police officers were beating anyone in this video. There was just one out-of-control cop, a bad copy, a sociopath, who loses his temper. If there was anything that happened before the video started that would have warranted that bad cop’s barbarism, he wouldn’t have been alone in his rampage. Get past your rationalizations and suspend your disbelief that this is a police state, whether it’s violence, kettling and caging, or the large amount of unfilmed brutality, plus illegal spying, illegal confiscation of media technology property of the citizens in the square, the shutting down of cell phones. and so much more, there is always unprovoked police violence at protests and has been since even before the 1960s. That’s why they were called pigs – because they earned it, the brutes! Apologies to the four-legged variety.
scum
To protect and serve….corporations.
DISGUSTING!
Fox reporter also baton’d, cameraman maced.
Who pays the Police their salaries? Isn’t it those they are beating up? Sad day indeed!!!
It sure wasn’t the 1% paying anyone’s salary. That’s hard to do when they pay NO TAXES. And yet who is being protected?
You stupid f@ck. Those 1% pay more in taxes than the lower 70%. they also create JOBS. This does not forgive the cops, but get your facts right.
They “might” pay more taxes but on what % of earnings?
no YOUR A STUPID F@CK The 1% Do Not Pay Nowhere Near The Amount Of Taxes The Other 99% Do So Get Your Facts Right D!CK Head
Every police state requires monsters who will beat, torture, rape, and murder on behalf of the state. America, the white shirts are those monsters. Recognize them.
= I wonder why they took off their jackets, and are standing there in white shirts..? Was it meant to de-escalate and look less menacing? Or just to be more visible? It seems inconsistent with his rage
= A lot of the noise and shouting does seem to be directed at the police. The police must be trained to withstand that kind of psychological pressure .. but I can imagine that some policemen would go a bit crazy after some time.
You get what you deserve, Americans.
its stupid that west politician not anticipate the arab spring and tend to exploit it. Every one should now that an unrest in any region will contagion.
I only warn US that if anything happend in wall street will perperated across the world.
Don’t NYPD know the more they lash out at occupy wall street potesters, the more will show up the next day? The violent and reactive police are actively making the protest bigger and stronger not discouraging people from practicing their civil rights.
Thats what happens when a person provokes an officer. Cops felt threatened and started using force, it’s really not that complicated. Nxt is rubber bullets, water canons, and tear gas. Whoever is not up for it go the F back in your hole. And take your meaningless 2nd grade IP signs with you. “equal salaries for everyone, even if you don’t have a job” haha GTFO
There are not enough jobs to go around. Since there are no jobs boarders have offered positions and opened boarders to the skilled trades. Clearly you are not understanding that the unions and people who have jobs are also protesting. The elderly who have worked all their lives and lost all the money and pensions are protesting. Is your mother and father safe?
So these losers just realized that smokin trees during their 10 year tenure at university of Phoenix on line and finally getting a degree in liberal arts or some other bs is not really going to get you that glamorous life style want to take down wall street by yelling at the outside of the building.
You do not know if all or anyone/all received a degree on line. If this were true then the universities would be empty. You also do not know if all or anybody has a liberal arts degree. I am certain that wanting proper care when people follow the rules doesn’t constitute any type of glamourous life style. There are union people there that have lost home, jobs, salary pensions. There are older Americans that have lost what ever they owned because of banking practises. Are you saying that workers are lazy because they want jobs because they want to pay for their education or continued education. Clearly based on your post you yourself lack morals and education. If your family has lot anything during theses times then this is how you are able to protect your wealth with anger.
pretty presumptuous for one that has no experience as to what they are talking about.
Police should just stay away give access with fencing to entrances and exist to public areas and then just stay away! This looks bad for the police. It looks even worse that there is no words spoken by elected officials such as the mayor. Communication is the answer here and there is not forth coming. People want answers from the people they trusted. People want transparency. If there is nothing to hide then give the people what they want.
Hum, lowest rate of police shooting since 1971 it took over 40 years to get it right? It is not saying that the police are the boogeymen. The police are following instructions. It is the job they do or else they would not hold this position that pays the money for the food and shelter. The personal views of police officers are irrelevent at this time. However, proper procedures need to be upheld or then you become lawless. There are proper rules when to mace individuals that rule states that the police officer is in the threat of danger and to protect themselves. Arbitraily macing people is not legal and not correct procedure. If you did this you would be arrested for assult. As a law abiding person and keeping the peace I would think that you would not break the law.
Hooray for the freedom to assemble! ):
Also, that’s terrifying; those people could have been severely injured.
If they keep doing this, more people will just keep coming.
Have they figured out who that officer was and if he is getting suspended from NYPD