Here's Video of a Senior NYPD Officer Beating Protesters With His Club
[There was a video here]
This is the scene at Occupy Wall Street Wednesday tonight, where a few hundred protesters continued the day's even larger demonstration with another march on Wall Street.
Last time we checked in, a tense standoff had emerged between cops—at least one of whom was looking forward to using his nightstick—and protesters, who'd been contained and blocked from the street with that ubiquitous orange netting and the old-school metal barriers.
Judging by the video coming out of downtown Manhattan, it seems clear that containment strategy doesn't seem to have worked particularly well. These two videos (the first uploaded to YouTube, the second taken by Fox 5), show a white-shirted NYPD lieutenant beating protesters back with a baton.
As far as we know it's the first time that's happened at occupation, which is now in its third week. And it wasn't just protesters, either; Fox 5 reporter Dick Brennan was hit with a nightstick and cameraman Roy Isen was maced. AP photographer Craig Ruttle was also right there—it's not clear if he took the brunt of the swing he managed to capture.