Incident occurred at Occupy Wall Street march; brass back the 41-year veteran
Comments (27)BY KERRY BURKE, ERIK BADIA, CHRISTINA BOYLE AND ROCCO PARASCANDOLA / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Wednesday, March 21, 2012, 11:31 AM
Updated: Wednesday, March 21, 2012, 6:07 PM
ANON/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
NYPD Chief of Department Joseph Esposito wields truncheon at Occupy Wall Street march downtown on Saturday.
RELATED STORIES
- Occupy Wall St. tries occupying Union Square
- Prosecutors drop charges against 21 Occupy protesters, will pursue 50 other cases
- Police clashes with protesters
- 'SlutwalkNYC' march draws hundreds
- Artists wear their wares to get around city's ban
DANNY IUDICI/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Occupy Wall Street protesters at the edgre of Union Square Park after barricades were erected to enforce the closing time.
Video footage captures a top NYPD official shoving two Occupy Wall Street protesters with his nightstick because they refused to get on the sidewalk.
Chief of Department Joseph Esposito, a 41-year veteran and a constant presence at major rallies and protests, is seen with both hands on his nightstick, shoving the demonstrators on downtown’s Dey St. Saturday.
The eight-second clip — part of a longer video feed taken on St. Patrick’s Day and obtained by the Daily News — does not appear to show the protesters, one of whom may have suffered a blow to his jaw, fighting back.
The video does not show what proceeded the confrontation.
The NYPD said Esposito did nothing wrong.
“The video speaks for itself,” said Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne, the department’s top spokesman.
A police source said Esposito was about to leave the demonstration when a radio call came in for manpower because more demonstrators were joining the rally.
Esposito is seen twice shoving a demonstrator clad in a baseball cap. Then he twice shoves a man clad in a hoodie with a bandanna on his face.
In the second incident, the nightstick appears to strike the demonstrator in the shoulder, with the blow glancing him on or near the jaw.
One witness said police on motorcycles and protesters were heading south on Broadway when the protesters changed direction and made a quick right turn onto Dey St., a narrow street made even thinner by utility work.
That caught police by surprise and led to the confrontation, the witness said.
“[Esposito\] was quicker on his feet than the scooters,” the witness said. “He was trying to clear the street with a few other cops.”
Esposito was wearing an NYPD coat, but was otherwise in plainclothes, sans his hat and the four stars on his uniform that identify him as the highest-ranking uniformed member of the department.
“I’m sure protesters didn’t know who he was,” the witness said.
Moments after the confrontation, Esposito is seen running off to deal with another fracas.
Police arrested 73 Occupy Wall Street protesters who were trying to retake Zuccotti Park that night.
A core group of protesters then moved north to Union Square Park.
Six demonstrators were arrested there early Wednesday as police moved to shut down the park for the night.
One protester was charged with trespass and five more with obstructing governmental administration for refusing orders to move, police said.
Cops had erected temporary barriers around the plaza near the south entrance to the park at nightfall, pushing the demonstrators out of the area to prevent them setting up camp.
After the park was closed, about 30 occupiers spent the night on the sidewalk near 14th St. and rushed back up the stairs and into the park as soon as the blockade was removed at 6 a.m.
"This is what a victory looks like," they chanted. “All day, all week, Occupy Wall Street.”
rparascandola@nydailynews.com
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/occupy-wall-street-protesters-rush-back-union-square-park-reopens-morning-article-1.1048107#ixzz1poWAKqfB
No comments:
Post a Comment