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Occupy Wall St. Pepper-Spray Cop Anthony Bologna Loses 10 Vacation Days for Violating NYPD Rules
NEW YORK - NYPD Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna was disciplined Tuesday for pepper-spraying two female protesters in the notorious YouTube video seen around the world.
Anthony Bologna faces internal discipline of a loss of vacation time over the incident, which took place on September 24. The NYPD found that Bologna violated departmental guidelines and docked him 10 vacation days, or the equivalent amount of pay, police sources said.
The 29-year veteran makes $154,300 a year.
Protesters had demanded Bologna be arrested for spraying two penned-in women in the face and then quickly striding away during a Sept. 24 protest near Union Square.
Bologna's actions appeared unprovoked, and other cops at the scene were recorded expressing amazement at what he did. Video of that moment - which was viewed more than 3 million times on YouTube and played over and over on TV - helped turn Occupy Wall Street into a global phenomenon.
News of the punishment broke as protesters were marching on Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr.'s office to demand a crackdown on police brutality. They broke into cheers, then chants of "Fire Bologna! Fire Bologna!"
"It's a great step," said Vocal New York community organizer Alfredo Carrasquillo.
Bologna was disciplined one day after prominent defense lawyer Ron Kuby brought one of the victims, 24-year-old Albany teacher's aide Kaylee Dedrick, to meet with Vance's investigators.
Kuby didn't think much of Bologna's punishment.
"Frankly, I don't want him to lose any vacation days at all. That means he spends more time on the job with an even bigger attitude," Kuby said. "I think he needs a very long rest someplace quiet and stress-free."
Bologna's union reps said he was "disappointed."
"His actions prevented further injury and escalation of tumultuous conduct," said Roy Richter of the NYPD Captains Endowment Association.
Occupy Wall Street began its second month with forays uptown, including a gathering at Lincoln Center to support the Granny Peace Brigade.
Tuesday night, a group of 200 laid siege to a glitzy Huffington Post party in SoHo, believing Gov. Cuomo was inside, and chanting that he was "protecting the 1%."
Feminist writer Naomi Wolf, a guest, and a male companion were later arrested after she encouraged protesters to demonstrate on the sidewalk in front of the Skylight Soho club. As she was being led away in handcuffs, she told police, "It's our First Amendment right. The sidewalk is a public place."
Shortly after midnight, actor Alec Baldwin showed up at Zuccotti Park.
"You slept here for two days?" he asked Nina Montgomery, 18.
"I slept like a baby," she answered. "I woke up with cameras in my face. Maybe you're used to that, but I'm not."
Baldwin stuck around for an hour holding court at a press table and talking politics with protesters.
"One thing I would like to see is all student loans forgiven," he told one group. "I'd love to see what the effect would be on the economy if we pardoned all these loans."
With Lore Croghan and Kerry Wills
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Show AllBologna Loses 10 Vacation Days for Violating NYPD Rules
ouch
But look at it this way. Since it is on record he violated the rules, those he sprayed should be able to sue him and win.
Yup. And we have to look at the positive angle -- he was punished -- NOT NEARLY ENOUGH in my opinion, but he was punished. That means other cops can face punishment, too, if they continue.
I hope those two innocent young women DO sue because that is the biggest pain in the butt in the world for him to have to hire a lawyer and go through a trial (good luck, dirty cop), and cost thousands and thousands of dollars -- and a great deal more if they win.
Those two victims of Bologna are represented by Ron Luby, who is the protegee of the late Bill Kuntsler., a legendary civil rights lawyer. Bill Kuntsler (not sure I have the spelling right) never gave up protecting clients like these two.
Kunstler . . . which means "artist" in German, actually. I'd hate to think what "Kuntsler" might mean in any language. ;-)
I think "Kuntsler" is the equivalent of "cocksman"... which is properly pronounced "coman", if I'm not mistaken. ;)
I'm sure that the Wall Street Banksters will eagerly cover his legal expenses if and when that 4 million runs dry...
He likely would have lost them anyway.... Bloomburg's really putting the screws to the city unions!! >^^<
The man is obviously mentally unstable and should not be able to work in law enforcement.
He's a loose cannon, and if he stays on with the NYPD we'll no doubt be hearing more of him.
Does an employer's "disciplinary action" take the place of crimminal charges — I don't think so.
If Eric Holder was still alive the guy would be in deep shit.
You are so right.
Bologna btw already has a history of police violations. All the more reasons why he should not be allowed back on the force.
I'm glad to hear there were some negative repercussions for Tony Baloney, but it's not nearly enough. And can you believe the goon makes 154 grand a year in salary? That's A LOT more than most university professors! No wonder the cops side with the bankers!
You must be thinking of adjunct professor's, not tenured professor's who make far more than that on average.
Only someone who can't correctly form a plural would make such a ridiculous assertion.
Yes, and someone whose user name is "Caligula" spelled backwards.
Never noticed that -- thanks!
Alugilac, I assure you that most tenured professors make FAR LESS than 154 grand a year. It's only the "star" professors who make more, and even some of them make less. And they are a very tiny minority. As for adjuncts, they barely make any more than janitors.
Judging from the janitors I know, adjuncts make less. Plus, the janitors get health insurance.
Absolutely right. The per-credit-hour rate for adjuncts can be anywhere from $600 to $2000. Many of them succeed in eking out a pretty meager existence by commuting frantically between multiple institutions on a daily basis -- and if they're lucky, they gross $30K annually with, as you correctly note, no fringe benefits.
>Many of them succeed in eking out a pretty meager existence by commuting frantically between multiple institutions on a daily basis
We call them 'freeway fliers' in California.
I am a adjunct instructor for a community college in Southeast Kansas. I teach a 6 hour class that last 6-7 weeks long. I make only $400/credit hour with no benefits at all. I'm posting so that you can understand the pay for us living in small town rural america.
Wow, even worse than I'd thought, although the situation at community colleges is of course worse than at four-year and graduate institutions. (That's one of the reasons Oblahblah keeps pushing community colleges over universities: community colleges treat their "human resources" like chattel. Another is that they rarely teach critical thinking; state-dictated curricula and the near-total absence of faculty tenure see to that.)
Thanks for posting, and please accept my outrage that you're being exploited like that.
The relevant statistic for academic year 2009-2010:
"Over all, the average salary for a full professor was $109,843, compared with $76,566 for an associate professor, $64,433 for an assistant professor, $47,592 for an instructor and $53,112 for a lecturer."
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/12/education/12faculty.html?ref=education, citing the AAUP salary report for that academic year.
Adjuncts aren't included, because they aren't salaried; they're almost always paid by the course or credit hour taught.
Thanks Corvo. QED. Mind, associate and assistant profs are still tenured, but I'm not quite sure what "instructor" means, and I suppose that a "lecturer" is a guest professor. When I taught for three years I was a "visiting professor," which was simply a fancy form of adjunct, and I was paid peanuts.
Thanks, clovis. Some (but certainly not all) universities use "instructor" for full-time faculty who are not tenure-track. This causes major headaches at some institutions because some instructors have successfully argued in court (and AAUP tends to defend this position) that instructors given annual contracts for several years ought to be considered tenure-track, especially if they were initially hired in a national search. "Lecturer" is often applied to non-tenure-track faculty (sometimes full-time, sometimes part-time) whose primary expertise is in the "real world" and who are hired more on the basis of "real world" experience than discipline-specific scholarship. That's why they're paid more than instructors.
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-10-18/news/os-scott-college-professor-salaries-20111018_1_florida-professors-university-professors-salaries
_________________________________________________________
"Many of the higher-paying professors, Auxter said, are working physicians who teach in the medical schools. Some professors are paid more because they also have administrative positions.
______________________________________________________________
Some are paid large salaries because they bring in significant amounts of money through grants and other revenue sources for research. These other sources often provide at least part of their income, a fact that can easily be overlooked when reading the governor's online database."
..
re: The arrest of Naomi Wolf, here is a video--http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt7pIhapo1o --here is the article in the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/19/naomi-wolf-arrested-occupy-wall-street
Naomi Wolf, the celebrated feminist author and campaigner, has been arrested at an Occupy Wall Street protest outside an awards ceremony held to honour New York's governor.
Wolf and a companion were led away in handcuffs from the street in front of Skylight Studios in Manhattan.
Inside, the New York state governor, Andrew Cuomo, was being presented with the "game changer of the year" award from the Huffington Post website, for which Wolf is a contributor.
She was detained after ignoring police warnings to stay off the street in front of the building and where a crowd of about 50 Occupy Wall Street protesters had gathered.
Wolf had been at the event, hosted by Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington and attended by a number of celebrities, including the reality TV star Kim Kardashian, who was presented with a "business leader" award.
The protesters arrived at the event in SoHo to demonstrate their support of a "millionaires' tax", which Cuomo, a Democrat, opposes.
According to Ryan Devereaux, a reporter for the liberal TV news organisation Democracy Now, some chanted: "Where is Cuomo? Protecting the 1%!"
There was a dispute with police, who said protesters were blocking the sidewalk. Wolf came and told them they "didn't need a permit for a megaphone".
According to another witness, Wolf objected to a police officer's assertion that the group were blocking the street. "Tell it to the judge," the officer is reported to have said.
Taking away that fascist's vacation days is not exactly what the 8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is referring to when it states that no cruel and unusual punishment should take place in the United States.
"The NYPD found that Bologna violated departmental guidelines..."
It was an act of assault with pepper-spray and he should be prosecuted. If a civilian sprayed someone with pepper-spray, you can bet charges would be filed. Another case of the police protecting the police and living by different rules. Officer Bubbles was willing to arrest a protestor for assault for blowing soap bubbles.
Actually it was battery. Assault is verbal, a threat of violence, battery is physical violence.
Yes. I also spoke to a cop here in my major city, and he said they are trained to only use pepper spray to subdue someone who is getting violent and is out of control. Once the person is sprayed and subdued, the cop MUST HELP THE PERSON by washing out their eyes. Bologna did 2 things illegal --- he illegally used the weapon he was given AND he walked away for them to suffer as long as possible by denying them aid after the spraying. He was supposed to stay and wash their eyes out until the stinging was gone -- he LEFT. HE IS A CRIMINAL! Losing vacation days isn't enough for a crime!
You never know. In the Dirty Apple Tony Baloney's actions might not be as illegal as in your city. Of course, this matters only in a society governed by laws, not by money brute force hiding behind legalistic prerogatives.
So the psychopathic Bologna is only going to lose some vacation days. And that is somehow supposed to be considered discipline? I was fired from the Postal Service simply for saying “Hi Toots!” to a customer. Of course it was really because I was vocally critical of management and they had to find any excuse to get rid of me. [I reported that I overheard a manager tell a supervisor – “If you can get the employee to where they can’t eat or sleep, you have them right where you want them.” Today that manager has been made a Postmaster of a major metropolitan city.] That’s when I realized that the system is rigged against workers. However, with cops, if you assault a citizen the citizen is charged with provoking the attack. Obviously class warfare has been around for some time.
This farce, of a punishment, is one more form of police and justice brutality on the people.
That's supposed to be a punishment? Disgusting.
Inspector Bologna violated the law by launching his own counter-demonstration against the OWS demonstrators. His job as a policeman does not give him the right to express his own political views by discouraging the demonstrators from expressing theirs. He used force, illegally because there was no justifiable reason for force, to show the demonstrators they'd better keep their views to themselves. This is in direct violation of their First Amendment Rights, and Bologna should be prosecuted for it. All the posturing and hemming and hawing by police officials avoids the real issue: Inspector Bologna took it upon himself to intimidate the protesters from expressing their opinions about a valid political issue. He should be severely disciplined. Losing ten vacation days is an insult to the First Amendment of our Constitution.
Why does this P O S still have a job? The irony is that Bologna's actions validated the Occupier's complaints, and has fueled the flames of discontent.
C'mon guys. I think we should send Bologna a check for his role as publicist. Civil suits are likely to come, and he will need the money.
Perhaps it is time for Bologna to trade in his white shirt for a brown one.
Totally agree with Kuby. And, like Alec Baldwin, I would love to see all student loans pardoned and higher education made either drastically less expensive or free. It's ridiculous that higher education costs that much in this country. If we want a better informed electorate, then we should focus on increasing access to education at ALL levels. Of course, most corporations (or the 1%) don't care about educating the poor and middle class, as it would most likely negatively impact their ability to sell unnecessary crap or more "wars" to the masses.
The good news is the OWS protesters are all photo journalists.
No justice, no peace!
Folks, ask yourself what would happen to those girls or any other OWS protesters if they had walked up to officer Bologna and pepper sprayed him? You know it would be a hell of a lot worse than his slap on the wrist.
Most likely the charge would have been something like felony assault.
Mayor Bloomberg does a wonderful job of applying the law equally.
BTW, Tony Baloney will lose 10 vacation days, but I predict he will take 10 extra sick days this year.
Police Chief: "Tony, you're a hell of a cop and we really appreciate you. You are the only cop who really stood up to that bunch of hippie anarchists and showed them what for.
"Unfortunately, that commie press out there is making an issue out of it and we have to throw them a bone.
"Tell you what, we'll dock you ten days of vacation, that ought to satisfy them (heh,heh)."
"But, Chief, I haven't taken a vacation day in twelve years. I love my job!"
"That's OK, Tony, we'll make it up to you when you retire, performance bonus or something.
"Meet me at the Pig Bar after your shift and I'll buy you a drink.
"Now, get back to work, we've got demonstrators to foil!"
There is no violence until the dip shit cops lose their cool and start abusing their authority by bullying and beating people.
"'His actions prevented further injury and escalation of tumultuous conduct,' said Roy Richter of the NYPD Captains Endowment Association."
____________________
Well, Western society's matchless rational and enlightened cultural tradition of an adversarial approach to justice forces us to be good sports about advocates looking straight into the public eye and uttering the most sleazy, preposterous, and insultingly offensive prevarications, deceits, and calumnies imaginable on behalf of their clients.
We are constrained to repress the urge to spit into the face from which the forked tongue flickered by applying a variation of the Golden Rule, i.e., if you were the accused, defendant, etc., wouldn't you want your advocate to boldly go forth and defend your honor and innocence with every lame and disingenuous spin he or she could cough up?
Maybe so, maybe so.
Still, I can't resist hypothesizing a more honest and valid alternative and putting it in the mouth of this Richter reptile for the record:
____________________
"His actions caused further injury and constituted an escalation of tumultuous conduct," said Roy Richter of the NYPD Captains Endowment Association.
I would have posted something about this, but you covered it perfectly.
i cannot believe this guy is not being used as a halloween mask this year
"I think he needs a very long rest someplace quiet and stress-free."
solitary @ GITMO
He lost 10 vacation days...for what he did? That is a joke! He should have, at the least, be put on disciplinary status without pay for at least a month, if not worse! Sorry, I have no tolerance for that kind of abuse!