I was overjoyed to learn this morning that Brookfield Properties backed down, albeit temporarily, about cleaning the park. Unfortunately, that bubble was burst when I saw video of police supervisors, white shirts, attacking peaceful demonstrators. Later I saw video of police brutality by a blue shirt, but that has been the exception, not the rule. This article and four videos should bring you up to date.

The anticipated conflict between Occupy Wall Street protesters and city officials happened after all on Friday as NYPD officers arrested at least 14 individuals, leaving a few battered and bruised. Many expected a confrontation early in the morning because Brookfield Properties, which owns the park the protesters’ have made their headquarters, planned on cleaning it. That meant the activists needed to evacuate for the day, which many felt was just an excuse to remove them permanently. Instead, Brookfield decided to postpone its cleaning, at which point protesters poured into the streets of lower Manhattan. It is unclear how disruptive the marches were, but videos and photos have cropped up of injured civilians. One police officer ran over a man’s leg with his scooter while another man was punched in the face… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Reuters>

Here’s the first video I found.

I saw no provocation to justify that vicious attack.

Keith Olbermann dedicated almost his entire show on Countdown to covering this story. Here are three of the segments. The first is an overview.

In the second, he interviews eyewitnesses to the violence.

In the third he interviews the attorney for the observer, whom police ran over with a motor scooter, Yetta Kurland.