It was the nasty act that finally got the media to start paying attention to Occupy Wall Street. The images of those young girls screaming in pain, tears flowing from their innocent eyes, riveted the nation.

NYPD officer Anthony Bologna’s unprovoked pepper-spray attack may have been a blessing in disguise , but it was also a disgusting display of raw police brutality. And so, it came as a shock when, earlier in the week, the results of the NYPD investigation came down, and it seemed that Bologna was getting off with a slap on the wrist.

Here’s the NY Times report:

The commander, Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna, has been given a so-called command discipline, according to a law enforcement official. Officials said investigators found that the inspector ran afoul of Police Department rules for the use of the spray. The department’s patrol guide, its policy manual, says pepper spray should be used primarily to control a suspect who is resisting arrest, or for protection; it does allow for its use in “disorder control,” but only by officers with special training. The Internal Affairs Bureau reviewed the episode and found that Inspector Bologna “used pepper spray outside departmental guidelines,” said Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman. He declined to elaborate.

As Techdirt pointed out, that’s the same Paul Browne who, in the immediate aftermath, had claimed that the use of pepper spray was appropriate and that the evidence proving this was, “edited out or otherwise not captured in the video.” But there were too many videos (see page three of this story, where we’ve put together a bunch of them for you)…

We are now in interesting times. Five years ago, Bologna’s original story would have been unassailable unless a police officer broke the code and spoke out. But with multiple videos from multiple angles, it quickly crumbled.

The Manhattan news journal DNAInfo, which has covered the case extensively, reports:

Civil rights attorney Ron Kuby, who represents [pepper-spray victim Kaylee] Dedrick, penned a letter to the Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance on Oct. 11, asking him to take immediate action in charging Bologna with assault. “While you may choose to convene a grand jury to consider felony charges … there is no reason, except politics, to delay charging and arresting D.I. Bologna,” Kuby wrote, adding prosecutors have sufficient evidence to move forward with the case. “The video on its face makes out a case for third degree assault,” Kuby insisted on his way out of [a meeting with the DA]. “Had this been anyone other than a deputy police inspector, that person would have [already] been arrested [and] prosecuted.”

It’s not likely that Bologna will ever be prosecuted – as Kuby notes, the man is a 30-year veteran of the force with high-level responsibilities.

But since the Internal Affairs investigation formally acknowledged that Bologna violated department guidelines, that opens Bologna up for a lawsuit for violating the civil rights of his victims. A lot depends on what happens next: whether Bologna decides to accept the charge or fight it.

Either way, Bologna remains vulnerable – and all of the victims can sue him for violating their civil rights under § 1983. CIVIL ACTION FOR DEPRIVATION OF RIGHTS. He’s no stranger to that title – he was named in several suits coming out of the 2004 Republican National Convention protests in New York.

With all that video and now the police disciplinary action, the only question is how much they’ll get. Unfortunately, it’ll be the city, and not Bologna, who pays. And it won’t be for a while… the RNC suits are still pending.

Next page >> Bologna speaks up

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