The New York Police Department has come down on the NYPD officer caught on camera for infamously pepper-spraying peaceful female protesters during the early days of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
For the act, Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna is being docked ten days vacation time.
The department veteran of nearly three decades will lose ten days of vacation or the equivalent amount of pay, police sources tells the New York Daily News today. If one of the victims has her way, however, it won’t end just there.
“It’s a great step,” New York community organizer Alfredo Carrasquillo tells the Daily News, but 24-year-old teacher’s aide Kaylee Dedrick might pursue legal action against the law enforcement vet. She was one of a few young women who did appear to do nothing to provoke Bologna before he maced them and then left the scene during a September 24 protest near Union Square in Manhattan.
The incident served as a catalyst in getting the Occupy Wall Street movement mass media attention only a week into the demonstrations. On Monday the protests turned one-month old.
Union representatives for Bologna say they are disappointed with the decision, claiming that “His actions prevented further injury and escalation of tumultuous conduct.”
Prominent attorney wasn’t all that happy with the slap-on-the-wrist that the NYPD brought on Bologna either. “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,” says Kuby.
Chelsea Elliott, who along with Dedrick was pepper sprayed during last month’s incident, told RT that the whole event was just bizarre.
“It took about three seconds for it to register what had happened,” Elliott told RT. “At that moment, my mind kind of went blank. I was just so confused as to why. I just fell to the ground.”
Following Bologna’s outburst, the hacktivist collective Anonymous posted personal information pertaining to the officer on the Internet. “Before you commit atrocities against innocent people, think twice,” they warned.