By Rex Reed 11/30/11 11:03am

movies

Mr. Harrelson.

Rampart is Straight Outta LAPD

An edgy, prize-worthy performance by Woody Harrelson as uncomfortable and raw-knuckled as a bruised fist elevates Rampart. It’s a lacerating look at the life of a dirty cop, set during the immoral, violent and headline-making lawlessness of the Los Angeles Police Department in the Rampart squad scandals of 1999. The background and a lot of the thinly disguised facts assembled by the great crime writer James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential) have been fictionalized to concentrate on one man instead of a whole gang of rogue cops, but Oren Moverman’s sucker punch direction and script (co-written by Mr. Ellroy) reek of authenticity. Read More

By Drew Grant 9/29/11 12:10pm

Occupy Wall Street

Photo via Flickr

Did Bologna Use Too Much Pepper(-Spray)? District Attorney’s Office Investigates

While the NYPD continues to make promises of an investigation of Deputy Inspector Anthony “Tony Bologna” Bologna‘s use of pepper-spray on unarmed female protesters during Saturday’s Occupy Wall Street protests, he has yet to be disciplined. Despite videos showing two separate incidents of what appears to be unwarranted and abusive use of the weapon, Inspector Bologna still remains in active service. While that may seem like a grave injustice to women like Chelsea Elliott who were harmed during the attacks, the public outcry has been strong enough for the offices of Manhattan D.A. Cyrus R. Vance Jr. to launch a separate investigation into the case. Read More

By Drew Grant 9/28/11 1:41pm

Occupy Wall Street

Tony

Second Video of Pepper-Spraying Officer Anthony Bologna + History Of Violence = NYPD PR Disaster

We were willing to give NYPD’s Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna the benefit of the doubt when we called the video of his pepper-spraying defenseless female protestors on Wall Street last Saturday a case of “alleged” police brutality. We even somewhat sympathized with him (well, at least his family) when Anonymous leaked all his personal information to the Internet on Monday.

The New York Observer was reserving judgment on Officer Bologna, because there is a lot of misinformation being spread out there by both the NYPD and “Occupy New York” sympathizers. But now a second video has surfaced of Bologna using the pepper-spray on another group during Saturday’s protests, just to get them out of his way. Read More

By Drew Grant 9/25/11 8:35pm

Occupy Wall Street

Video

usla

'Occupy Wall Street' Update: Alleged Police Brutality Caught In Pepper-Spray Video

At 1:45 this afternoon, The New York Times‘ City Blog posted a video from Saturday’s “Occupy Wall Street” protest march. The clip, which first received attention when it was picked up  by USLAW.com’s YouTube account, plays in slow-motion, showing a “high ranking member” of the NYPD approaching a group of women standing behind orange netting and spraying a substance directly into their faces. The video identifies the spray as either Mace or pepper-spray, which would concur with reports the New York Observer received on the ground yesterday from Nathan Schneider of wagingnonviolence.org, who told us that “a woman who was pepper-sprayed” was speaking to Democracy Now. Read More