The cops, in their white shirts, badges exposed, were either brave or stupid. Most coppers in that situation would be in full riot gear, complete with darkened face mask, shield, bullet proof vest, and no exposed badge or ID number. Now, to the question of bravery - did they think they could just spray and walk away, as if cleaning a shower stall? Officer Bologna must have felt he would suffer no consequences. That's the cheapest kind of bravery available. He might get some paid administrative leave, but that would be the extent of the consequences. The question of stupid - That's a slam-dunk. Frat boy cocky-stupid. Had a civilian sprayed the cops, those civilians wouldn't have made it to booking without being beaten up.

Innocent animals are under attack, what do we do? ACT UP, fight back! . . .

Here's the point: Humans descended from the higher animals, promptly turned on them, and lost a great deal of dignity in the process . . .

We're the psychopaths of the planet. No other animals treat each other and others the way we do, and they are almost always worse off for having known us . . .

I stick by my belief that human evolution is defective.

Anyone lodging a complaint should get his rank correct because there might well be several cops named Bologna on the roster (it's not exactly an uncommon name). The one in the protest photo appears to be a Deputy Inspector, not a Captain.

This is the message I sent to the commissioner.
I am appalled at the terrorist actions of your police Captain Bologna pepper spraying a woman doing the officer no harm except objecting to the people who obviously run your city. As a grandmother and previous recipient of police brutality, I recognize puppets for the real criminals. Those people in Wall Street are stealing the fabric of America and shipping it overseas.
Some day soon you will find yourself on our side of the fence. When you get here we will let you be forgiven and assist you in your own fight, be it financial, legal, or medical. Americans are currently in the hands of dangerous white collar terrorism. When they come for you, give me a call.

Prosecute him...too bad William Kunstler is no longer here.

Do writers and readers recall the 2004 Republican convention here in NYC? The cops rounded up more than 1200 people, roughed some of them up, and then hauled them away to Pier 57 -- where some individuals ended up spending 2 and 3 days, sleeping on cement floors, with asbestos lined walls, etc. Some of the people who were swept up weren't even part of the very peaceful protests that were taking place in various locations in NYC. Since the protesters' cell phones were confiscated, no one could call attorneys or family members. These individuals were, literally, disappeared.

I attend as many protests as possible here in NYC, and I have witnessed lines of cops on horseback charging into peaceful crowds, etc. (February 15, 2003) It's scary -- the cops on the sidewalks were all dressed up in their riot gear. I'm not even certain that the cops, today, have to display their badge numbers. The PTB hand down the policies.

Stop-and-frisks are policy here in NYC. And, each year, the numbers of people the cops frisk rise. NYPD doesn't need a reason to stop people. I have seen and heard white cops in my neighborhood holler out smart remarks to young black students walking on the sidewalks in East Harlem where I live. I froze one day when a young black girl turned around and yelled back. These young people have NO idea how quickly their lives can change -- one wrong move, and suddenly, they can find themselves cuffed, and thrown into cop cars. In fact, these young people don't have to make a wrong move -- the cops are bound by the policies, and they have the power.

That the cops didn't hide who they were and maced the women is an unusual twist to this story. I am speculating that the cops feel they have nothing to fear by their egregious acts aimed at the protesters.

the act ofspraying these girls inthe eyes and randomly thoughout the crowed was totally an unexcusable chicken shit unprofessional act. The officer should be punished/ job loss/ sprayed in the eyes and needs psycological help. In fact those who support this negitive behavor should be looked at and profiled as too how many other past eppisodes have they lost/ supported their so called trained NY's dumb-ass's

Cops are under the impression that they can do whatever they wish provided their brutality is not directed at the upper class. They are correct in this assessment. Even if they kill someone in cold blood, the most they are likely to receive as "punishment" is a few months paid leave. If you give any group that amount of power they will abuse it; if you give it to the fascist sub-mental roid-monkey bullies who make up most of the police force, watch out. Increasingly, these monkeys are simply satisfying their basest sadistic impulses.

Police are sometimes referred to as the thin blue line. Between what? Well, between the rich and everyone else. The rich are well aware of this, and treat their security guards with appropriate affection.

It is a myth that the police have only recently become a gang of thugs. They have always been thus. If they help someone it is incidental. In the words of Chuck D, "the police protect property, not people".

There are some interesting exceptions to these rules in American history. For example, sheriffs sometimes protected citizens against private detective agencies like the Pinkertons. More recently there was the case of a sheriff who refused to evict people from their homes.

There are also exceptions to the culture of impunity. In the old west, it was not unheard of for a man to be cleared in court of killing a lawman if it was demonstrated that the lawman was in the wrong.

My opinion is that the police need to be abolished as an institution. The (dis)order they maintain is not worth preserving, and they have way too much political power. Up here in Canada, the RCMP can make or break governments depending on which scandals they decide to investigate.

Abolishing private property would do away with 95% of crime. The remaining 5% can be dealt with by local citizens on a rotational basis. I'm not sure this would be possible in large cities, which is one of the reasons I'm not a fan of large cities. At the very least, there needs to be much, much more democratic oversight of the police. They are literally out of control.

"New York's Finest"......

About two weeks ago we were celebrating the heroic efforts of some of NYC's cops and firefighters on 9/11/01 - they 'day that changed everything'. And, while there have always been instances of police abuse against citizens, the complete and total Militarization of city and even small town police forces has been quite extreme over these past 10 years.

Check out Officer Sausage's hunk a' hunk o' burning metal on his chest! Looks like he's been in battles fighting foreign Wars. No, just fighting against the domestic enemy....us!

The motto of many police departments, emblazoned on their cars and badges is: "To Serve and Protect". Would that they be reminded of this by the civilian politicians who are supposedly in control.

when a fatherless boy growing up in new york is introduced to the police in the back seat of a patrol car where he was menaced because he was some place he shouldn't have been ... and then has similar experiences throughout his life with the police ... rarely seeing a considerate public servant and mostly seeing the hard nosed authoritarian without compassion for his fellow citizens ... it makes you feel that they are not the good guys ... it presents an adversarial component into interaction with those who 'are to serve and protect' ... i don't fear the police ... i don't trust the police ... i'm sure many 'might' have had lofty goals of doing right by society but peer pressure and bigotry enters and voila ... you get an unchecked group of weapon carrying citizens who aren't accountable to the laws they are supposed to uphold ... so when some protester hating cop has an opportunity to express his anger on those incapable of protecting themselves ... they do ... when ranks are as tight as the cop/da/court ... you will not get justice when they are the perpetrators ... only exoneration and excuses ...

"...a free society."

What "Free Society?"

Don't perpetuate the myths. This society never was "free".

I guess Mr. Fallows believes in "free speech" too?

Anthony Bologna, Tony Boloney? Are you kidding? Now we know why he is an angry bully, he must have been bullied all his life and now he is a cop and can take all those agressions out on innocent people. Both He and his parents should be spanked, what a bunch of shit!

PIG! ASSHOLE!

Doesn't bologna come from pigs?

Some of the police had COUNTER TERRORISM written on the back of their uniforms. The NYPD need to eliminate the COUNTER part! Maybe the peaceful protesters should have uniforms that say COUNTER TERRORISM FORCE. because if spraying pepper spray on peaceful, innocent women isn't a form of terrorism, what is?

Kelly will order the cops to wear their stormtrooper gear to discourage them from being identifiable. Remember that New York City law does not allow citizens to wear mask, a right that is held and cherished by its stormtroopers.

Supervisor Pepperspray decided to join the ranks of Officer Bubbles.

I have a challenge for a investigative journalist. What is official NYPD policy on the "appropriate" usage of pepper spray. I'd love to read it. It must be public record, but I can't find it.

"appropriate" behavior by officers of the law in a free society."

We don't have one, and haven't for quite a few years.

Benjamin Franklin wrote, "Those who will give up a little freedom for a little security deserve neither."

Obviously, he was right in this as in so many things.

Why exactly were these women netted up? What threat were they creating? Was it because of their attire?

This crime is so shocking it may break through the cocoon of self denial for at least some Americans. "We don't really have a fascist thuggery trained to kill and maim our own citizens on demand, do we? Of course not, we are the land of the free and home of the brave... ad nauseum."

Well, we do. The ruling class has always had its Pinkertons. I was teaching high school last week as a substitute in the study hall for college bound seniors. One study group was working out of some history books on a section on the American Revolution. There was a big picture of Thomas Jefferson at the top of the page of each book.

"History is really BORING!" they moaned as I walked over to their table. I talked a bit about textbooks and how they often just assemble a boring list of "facts" that are compatible with a political out look of the editors. "For example," I asked, "how many of you are aware that Thomas Jefferson and George Washington too, were slave holders? That they owned slaves?" No hands went up. "You see," I said, "that is an important historical fact about those American revolutionaries that is both interesting and left out of the textbooks because it does not fit into the political picture the editors are trying to paint with the facts they select and decide to include in their book."

"Thomas Jefferson even had a child with one of his slaves we just know as Sally."

The consciousness of American women has progressed as evidenced by the comment one of the girls made immediately upon learning about Sally and her having given birth to Jefferson's baby.

"That would be rape, because as a slave Sally could not have had free will."

So we are making some progress, however slow. I think scenes like that one Officer Balogna gave us last weekend will help raise consciousness of people all over the country to the fact that the cops are ofttimes belligerent fascist pigs. That they are threat to our very being, and that something has to be done about it.

I personally think that heads should roll all the way up to the Police Commissioner for what happened there.