Anonymous Claims This Is The NYPD Officer Who Pepper-Sprayed Protesters

Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna, the alleged NYPD official who discharged pepper spray on protestors during demonstrations on Saturday (Jim Kiernan / Gothamist)

In response to the seemingly unprovoked use of pepper spray on protestors around Union Square on Saturday, the hacking group Anonymous has leaked the name and personal information of the officer who allegedly discharged the spray. Anthony Bologna is a Deputy Inspector for Patrol Borough Manhattan South, and his name appears to be corroborated by a blown-up photo of his badge along with an eyewitness account.

Anonymous writes:

As we watched your officers kettle innocent women, we observed you barberically pepper spray wildly into the group of kettled women. We were shocked and disgusted by your behavior. You know who the innocent women were, now they will have the chance to know who you are. Before you commit atrocities against innocent people, think twice. WE ARE WATCHING!!! Expect Us!

Occupy Wall Street, one of the organizers of the protests (along with Anonymous) is reporting that Bologna is in fact the officer in question, and an article in NYC Indy Media from 2001 about the MayDay protest refers to Bologna by name as "notorious for his treatment of protestors."

A member of the People's Law Collective, who witnessed the arrests said a police officer, Lt. Anthony Bologna, notorious for his previous treatment of protestors, shoved two young activists, a male and a female and began to leave the now-agitated crowd. Bologna then left, and returned to arrest them.

Bologna formerly worked as the head of the First Precinct for five years until he was bumped up to Patrol Borough Manhattan South. "I'm leaving on a good note—every year crime has gone down," he told DNAinfo at the time. Over at The Rant, one commenter in a discussion on the pepper spraying notes, "the white shirt is my old CO, i wont monday morning qauterback his actions , BUT he was a douche when he was my CO"

Another adds, "Just to be clear, I was not questioning his use of the spray. I question him turning and walking away quite quickly. He left the cops, some who caught the spray themselves, to deal with his actions."

Indeed it appears that one officer winces immediately after the spray is discharged at close range. The NYPD refused to comment on whether or not Bologna discharged the pepper spray, shouting the email address to which we should direct any inquiries before abruptly hanging up. Calls to what Anonymous released as Bologna's number went unanswered.

Here is the video of the incident on Saturday, from two different angles.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Christopher Robbins in News on September 26, 2011 5:05 PM

Comments [rss]

chee1rs

OWS is a bunch of thugs

Guest

I've had my small share of run-ins with NYPD in 12 years, and I work for Wall St. I'd like to believe the largest force in the USA is an ethical, worthy force. If you want my opinion though, there are a lot of seriously corrupt people in that organization. I don't say that lightly.... I've experienced some seriously f-ed up shit at the hands of NYPD.

Police yourselves first.

Roark

While this Wall St camp out brings a smile to my face.

Lets be honest here - probably a very small percentage of these people grew up below the poverty line. Where are the blue collar workers in this group?

This is not the Paris Commune Occupation of 1871

mattbrooklyn

why does that matter?

Roark

Anything worth doing Is worth doing right.

Cliches are interesting things.

Many of them are truths.

Without the presence of actual working class people integrated into a movement of socialist idealism.

It isn't much of a movement at all.

Sort of like if you held a job fair and everyone who showed up already had a job.

History matters and the Paris Commune of 1871 is the gold standard for anything like this. Look it up, its a fascinating event, if you care then you will realize how foolish your question is.

I still see this camp out as a positive thing though, give the powers that be hell, keeps them on their toes.

roknrolla

Well, that was a disturbing viewing. Video # 1 was very well done and documents the incident.
This C.O. is, really, just a bully. The women were already penned in, were doing nothing except voicing their questions ("where do you want us to go? The garage? You want us to go into the garage?") and their opinions (shouting "shame, shame" as the rank & file tackled one, or two, male protesters). This Deputy Inspector behaved inappropriately, there was simply no reason to spray the females (and it is very telling of his personality that his targets were defenseless females - any domestic violence allegations against you DI Bologna, which were probably squashed anyway?). Also very telling that he did his bullying deed and then left his rank & file to deal with the fallout - including suffering from some residual spray. Nice.
Abuse of power. Plain and simple. A man at that level of supervisory power in the NYPD should be expected to possess better judgment. It is sad that this will probably be tolerated and , sadder still, will be smoothed over by the "Department". They do indeed protect their own.

marspyramid

These are just bunch of spoiled children who are trying to be rebellious to get attention. The police presence is just fueling them. If they just let these kids stand around and chant for a couple days with no media attention & police, they would have gotten bored and took off. It's not like they actually truly care about this cause; it certainly doesn't effect their privileged, parasitic lives directly in any way. It's just a trendy thing to do, like growing an ironic beard or listening to the new Bon Iver album. Ignore them, they'll disappear.

edgie168

so.. do you have any idea what this protest is about or are you just giving us your uninformed opinion?

(btw that was a rhetorical question)

Jeremiah Ellison

To pepper spray and walk away, with no attempt to detain or arrest them
afterwards, shows there was no threat from those women and they weren't
guilty of anything to arrest them for. There was absolutely NO legal
ground for the use of pepper spray.

I believe that's called "felony assault".

cooperleeray

i saw that guy pushing people around outside my building on Pine street.

Dwayne Hoover

With a name like "Tony Bologna" he sounds like some fat mobbed up POS. He still must be compensating for years of childhood taunts.

jeebs

drive-by pepper spraying of young hippie ladies. his wife, daughter, sister, aunts and mom must be so proud. and he's allowed to carry a gun! freaking scary/crazy.

Gina S

I can just hear him muttering to himself "I hate these long haired hippies!"

david

Salute the men in blue who protect your life and mine
Night stick swinging closet sadomasochistic swine
Where were you on the day our childhood died
Were you polishing your guns?
Looks like you weren't the only ones

You say you come in peace
We say peace minus one
Peace minus one
We say make war, fuck love
A salute to the fallen youth who have died on the cross of our neglect
Programmed and desensitized to kill all the rejects
And the news shows the clip a thousand times
And still has the balls to ask the question why
To serve and to protect
you say you come in peace
Destroy our self respect
we say peace minus one
To rape and to degrade
peace minus one
Run from the war you've made
We say make war fuck love
We say peace minus one
Fourteen year olds have guns
They say make war fuck love

Brice Davis

ACCOUNTABILITY IS THE WORD OF THE DAY

Jeremy Hummel

Sign the petition to jail Anthony Bologna for assault and remove Raymond Kelly as police commissioner!
http://www.change.org/petition...

farenbalanced

I understand the beef with Anthony Bologna. But Ray Kelly is a terrific police commissioner who could be elected Mayor of NYC by acclaimation from real New Yorkers of all political stripes. If we lost him, you wouldn't know who to fear first: terrorists, criminals or real right wing goons.
You're not from around here, are you?

Ladder157

Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone (including police) puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery.

Justin Leone

Some people become cops in order to reduce crime and brutality... Others, it seems, do so to protect their own monopoly on it. If not for his uniform, this monster's actions would land him in prison.

StarryGordon

'Why I Was Maced at the Wall Street Protests'

http://bostonreview.net/BR36.5...

bobbyjfromtheuk12

Here's a quote from a reader of this article copied from Boston Review. Amen, finally someone with some sense speaks:"You know... I don't want to disagree
with these protesters, I don't want to ridicule anybody, and I wasn't
alive in the 60s so I don't want to talk about that... but really, the
screams and helplessness of these protesters made it clear that they
were just middle class white girls who had never suffered a real day in
their lives. Not that they can't fight for a cause... but the "toughen
up" sentiment isn't without merit. I have been maced before, I know what
it feels like, both when it happens and when you have to poop later if
any of it got in your mouth... but if you're going to a protest you
should be prepared for that. The "medic" mentioned in this article knew
to bring along some milk, or "liquid antacid" as it's called here. If
you've eaten a hot wing before, you know water + spicy = hurt. And why
does everybody just abandon these girls to sit on the sidewalk? There
was a crowd there before.

Right now the protesting is being done by Americans that are kind of
doing alright, mostly students, those types. Things aren't great in this
country, but we still have it alright compared to much of the world. Go
back and watch some videos of the protests in the Middle East this past
year- the people are tougher, their words are more heartfelt, they
believe strongly in what they are fighting for. A bunch of American kids
just don't have the gristle to be taken seriously.

Also, sure it's good to have some footage, but does EVERY SINGLE PERSON
need to be recording this? It's like a cell phone/camera party out
there. Let some of the people protest, and let some of the people be
journalists. Not everyone has to document it.

— posted 09/27/2011 at 05:45 by Drew Barrett"

Tony

Only poor people should be able to protest... but not blacks or mexicans because that's a race riot. And not people TOO poor because that's a hobo riot. Preferably protesters should make between 20,000 - 25,000 a year and be white males with college educations.

bobbyjfromtheuk12

I stand by the sentiments of the letter written by Drew Barrett above. I think your missing the point- We NEED the blacks, the mexicans, and the hobo's (your words), and the soldiers. Right now they're at work and have enough problems of their own without having to be camping out downtown. Nobody in power is taking these individuals who are out protesting seriously since they represent a tiny demographic and are for the most part middle class white people with too much time on their hands.

Konrad_Lorenz

They're the unemployed "lost generation". They will never have secure jobs: even economic recovery just means jobs for people younger than them.

Protests are what they have instead of jobs.

Don't take that away.

StarryGordon

So now you're objecting to people being middle-class? You're hard to please. Maybe you should call casting and have them send up types more specifically to your liking.

Multiple takes of an incident from different angles has proved useful in this case. At first, the police claimed the video of the woman being maced was edited to omit some unspecified provocation. When numerous videos taken of the same incident appeared, they had to forget that excuse. I guess they're cooking up some new ones.

Sinchy

So when soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, with no jobs and no prospects, start joining these protests, then they will be gristly enough to have basic human rights not to be violently attacked by the state?
How far does the economy have to sink and people have to suffer before they are deserving of your approval to protest.
I think it's great that these "student types" are getting off their asses and trying to do something to change the direction of this country so they might actually have a future to prosper in.
And yes every one needs to be recording this, maybe you would prefer only government approved cameramen?

bobbyjfromtheuk12

OK, I'm with you on the first part- When soldiers from Afghanistan (people with real jobs who actually work) start joining these protests I will be listening. Until that time I'm not going to listen to people protesting "Wall Street" who probably couldn't even balance a check book (if they even have a checking account to begin with).

Konrad_Lorenz

People with real jobs who work? WTF? Do you think that unemployment doubled because 10% of the population suddenly became lazy?

fixilator

Get ready to listen: Occupy Wall Street received a letter from servicemen currently at war who stand with them in spirit 100% and are planning on joining them, IN UNIFORM, in late November when they get out.

edgie168

man, you've got it all figured out don't you? why don't you go down there and show them kids how it's REALLY done, then.

bobbyjfromtheuk12

I file this along with your other pearls of wisdom like " if you want to be a fucking troll, try harder you yob."
You call yourself "Edgie" and that's the best you can come up with?

1429523

Nice dodge. Why don't you go down there?

edgie168

usad bro?

hotstepper

this is one of the first times i've seen Anonymous do something pragmatic and worthwhile. good show!

now concerned citizens must start e-mailing and calling the mayor and Ray Kelly's offices demanding this atavistic scum-sucker be held accountable and fired or even better prosecuted.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/h...
http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/h...
NYPD Operations: (646) 610-6700

Civilian Complaint Review Board:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/ccrb/h...

hotstepper

Mayor Bloomberg: (212) 639-9675 or (212) 788-2958
Deputy Commissioner of Public Information: (646) 610-6700
NYPD Switchboard: (646) 610-5000
First precinct: (212) 334-0611

torchTheMall

If only the protesters were dagger dancing and asking for ticket fixes...

Investigate-NWO-globalists

Isn't spraying hot pepper in innocent people's faces rather psychopathic (showing no conscience, no empathy)?

Does wearing sunglasses on cloudy days hide his reptilian eyes?

Inkognita

Below is a photo of Bologna dating from 2005 (complete with reptilian eyes). It may be hard to believe, but Deputy Inspector Tony Bologna once worked in Internal Affairs investigating corrupt cops.

http://www.thevillager.com/vil...

I don't agree with the protesters but I think it's reprehensible and counter-productive to pepper spray peaceful protesters. Geez, ideologically speaking these protesters were all over the place. Some even said they were demonstrating because cops were losing their pensions. Where did they get that from?

Joel_Cairo

Scubaggio

proudliberal1947

One way to clip this cops wings is start checking ALL known associations going four people removed. This will tell you who else is involved, make sure to check is log books and visitors logs and Judicial acquaintances, sounds weird but this guy was DELIBERATELY trying to start a RIOT.

His orders came from above, why else would he risk what he did if he knew his back wasn't covered. Check the Uptown and Downtown connections, this guy is DIRTY, and if he cops a plea, you know he is covering UP.

They are working over time to start a RIOT to justify BRUTAL police RIOT ACTION to bust some heads.

One last note checking the other videos see what his locations to the officer doing the offensive actions of forcing a RIOT.

Sulayman

Let's hope this cop goes down harder than the one who assaulted the Critical Mass bike rider. Any prosecutors wanna file charges against him yet?

ConradBain

Karma is such a beast. It's a shame that his family will now be included in fallout from his actions. But maybe the public heat he takes will make those responsible for 'guarding' these protests a bit more leery about how they handle things.

It's not the 1960's. You can't act out while in plain sight of 1,000 video cameras. The 'truth' goes out to a critical mass of the general public long before the mainstream news chooses not to cover it thoroughly, and much longer before any parties guilty of improper behavior have the chance to get their stories straight.

Ray Kelly is a smart guy. And his son works in news for crying out loud. They have to see this. Regardless of your views of the housing bubble, Wall Street, credit default swaps, Freddie/Fannie - if you don't allow Americans to peacefully take part in a NONPARTISAN protest/movement, while THE WORLD is watching - you are going to be on the wrong side.

If the NYPD continues their ways, they will very soon be seen the same as Mubarak's henchmen or Quaddafi's thugs. In some parts, they probably already are. I wonder how long until uniformed officers join in the protests.

It's only 9 days in...

The_Green_Devil

Exactly. Any misstep and within 5 minutes it's up on YouTube being broadcast around the world. And it's a beautiful thing.

TimeDown

Unfortunately I think it is also having the opposite effect intended. People are becoming desensitized to it because the videos are everywhere and are easily accessible. I would bet that there's not a day that goes by without another police abuse video being uploaded to youtube.

During the civil rights era, when people turned on the nightly news and saw people being beaten, hoses being used, and vicious police dogs it was so out of the ordinary for their living rooms that it left a significant impact on many. I fear that there may not be that same effect obtainable anymore.

randomtransplant

I would argue that generations x & y are not desensitized to real violence, if anyone is at all. These video's are not normal (which is good).

Especially when you can pin a name, place, and a cause to it.

The_Green_Devil

I agree with you about people in general being desensitized. But the power of the tool is in documenting abuses and disseminating them. Like in this case, without the prevalence of video cameras, we never would have found out about Bologna- he would have disappeared behind the "Wall of Blue". But now Bloomberg has his hands tied because of these videos. They can't lie and say these women provoked the police- not when there were 8 officers directly surrounding them and not one of them made any move toward the women, while Bologna came running from almost across the street. While a lot of people talk about "1984" and "Big Brother is watching you", one thing Orwell didn't foresee was us watching Big Brother right back.

TimeDown

Honestly, I hope you are right. But the abuses that have been committed by police officers and prosecutors while the general public ignores it has given me a cynical view of the possibility that these videos will actually effect some change. I hope I am proven wrong.

The_Green_Devil

So where's Mayor Bloomfuck decrying the mad-dog tactics of NYPD in macing innocent civilians? Or does NYPD and Bologna get a pass? Of course Bloomfuck is shitting himself because this protest is getting a little too close to his Wall St buddies and people are starting to see the real score.

Phillip Roncoroni

Police Department Bologna, Anthony Captain D/A Deputy Inspector Annual $142,659 2009

Rocknrope

My fascism has a first name, it's A-N-T-H-O-N-Y.....

randomtransplant

My Totalitarianism has a second name, its B-O-OHHH GOD MY EYES!!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY EYES!?

notracistnotintocorporatemedia

creep, you're fired.. alas, that is how some get promoted, whomever is the best sycophant for the oligarchy

whiteiris

Good for him!

m015094

Now I know who to send a thank you card.

ebietoo

They're generally hanging a little too far out over the edge for my taste, but this is exactly the kind of intel a group like Anonymous should provide in a social protest like this. Shine a big bright light on The Oppressor, flash the names up on a screen -- *they're* the ones who think they're hiding in plain sight...

soothsayer

not as bad as smolka. come on, all you protesters and critical mass riders know who i'm talking 'bout :D

jl990

http://www.indypendent.org/200...

asst police chief smolka, "girl beater"

Guest

A thought occurs to me - I'll bet you that you'll find that the rank and file cops are in complete agreement with the white shirts that "you guys" think are jerk offs.

Ladder157

I suppose that if an MOS admitted to murder, rape extortion and other misdeeds you would find a way to support him/her. The NYPD is NOT what it was at one time. You may have served back in the "good" days when the Dept. could be counted on to help the good people of this city. Now the inexperienced "college boys" are only interested in stats and summonses. The entire Dept is driven by Compstat and community policing is long gone.
You really need to take an unbiased look at what is going on.

canofpeas

Even his fellow police officers think he's a major league asswipe.

colonelcasey

I really wonder why a white shirt is in the middle of everything taking people down instead of the rank and file.

randomtransplant

Kelly needs to serve justice before everyone else does.

It doesn't seem like you can sit on this stuff any longer. He might have had a chance to satisfy the world before this private info was published, and he didn't even try. Times are changing. Keep up.

e non

bologna appears to be a coward. peppersprays corralled women and then turns and runs away. if that's representative of the leadership in the nypd, so much is explained with the thuggish behavior of too many of these cops.

jl990

directly in the face, from 5 feet away, might i add?

bobbyjfromtheuk12

Please, your the kind of idiot who thinks mustard gas is made from Grey Poupon.

percival_sweetwater

And you're the kind of idiot that can't tell the difference between their, they're and there. Go back to 4th grade and relearn your grammar.

edgie168

yeah? and how many civilians--let alone female civilians--ever get sprayed in the face with mace? so if you want to be a fucking troll, try harder you yob.

bobbyjfromtheuk12

The guy's an asshole, but that woman is acting like she got sprayed with burning Napalm. Way over dramatic.

percival_sweetwater

If you don't want people to exaggerate, don't GIVE them something to exaggerate.

jl990

how many times have you been sprayed with mace again?

bobbyjfromtheuk12

Actually, I've been sprayed with tear gas- makes mace look like getting sprayed with a water pistol. There's a difference between not being able to breathe and having a burning sensation in your your eyes. Now go back to the peanut gallery fool.

StarryGordon

In the military, I was instructed that mace was more severe than tear gas. That's why it was developed -- too many people could shrug off tear gas and keep functioning, whereas getting hit with mace, especially from a short distance, is a show-stopper. So I don't think you know what you're talking about, unless you're just bullsh*tting here, or trolling.

bobbyjfromtheuk12

Mace is Capascim- Same think you put in your burrito or your bloody mary, comes from a chilli pepper. Now I'm not saying it's fun, but going back to my original point I believe there was more than a little element of drama in this woman's response. Also, not to disrespect your service, but if you're looking for good information you're not going to get it from the military. Less than 50 years ago the military (and CIA to be fair) were dosing unknowing civilians with LSD to test their reactions saying the drug was safe and had no long term effects on people. Less than 20 years ago the military also denied the existence Gulf War Syndrome.

Konrad_Lorenz

Same thing you put in your burrito... of course if you put too much, you will die.

"In large quantities, capsaicin can cause death.[52] Symptoms of overdose include difficulty breathing, blue skin, and convulsions. The large amount needed to kill an adult human and the low concentration of capsaicin in chilies make the risk of accidental poisoning by chili consumption negligible."

percival_sweetwater

Mace isn't always and wasn't originally capsicum. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M...

torchTheMall

first of all the girl thats screaming the most, if you look in slow mo, she got it really hard in open eyes. not only that, it probably scared the shit out of her, because if I got sprayed in the eyes with something like that on a city street I would be going crazy wondering what the fuck it was.

go watch some youtube videos of people being pepper sprayed.

StarryGordon

Wikipedia's story is somewhat different from yours. In any case, I qualified for use of chemical weapons partly by being exposed to chlorine, CN, and CS. (Not at once, fortunately.) I guess if you're going to dish it out, they want to make sure you can take it.

Of course, we don't actually know what this particular police officer, who seems to have important behavioral problems, was actually using, or what the actual physical state of the victim was, so it's pretty silly on your part to say the victim overreacted, isn't it?

ocm123

Mace is a brand name. The NYPD only issues pepper spray to its officers made by Mace Security International.
In other words, these women were hit with pepper spray.

I believe Mace makes a chemical version of tear gas as well. Maybe that's what your thinking of?

jl990

people have different tolerances for pain.

Detex

yeah, and when they are protesting in front of a camera a 2 on the pain scale turns quickly into an 11+!!!

Justin Mulvey

What Mr. Bologna did looked unnecessarily brutal, and given his quick departure, I think he understood that. I hope he is fired.

brooklynRick

This jerk should face charges.

i > u

If by "face charges" you mean have his head firmly slammed into a landmine, then yes, he should certainly face charges.

whiteiris

You first idiot.

Wooloverurhead

landmines? get some perspective you fucking morons!

Matt F.

So advocating murder for pepper spray. Fan fucking tastic.

BTW, if someone is ramming someone else's head into a landmine, BOTH people get taken out.

ixvnyc

They sure brought the good cop/bad cop routine to new "heights" with this blue shirt/white shirt circus.

canofpeas

A hero is nothing more than a Bologna sandwich.

cr17

See I'm not your typical american!

Ryan Rosado

I love anonymous! I was hoping with all of my heart and soul that the white shirt pepper spray then walk away cop would get dealt with and he did. Not only him, but his entire fucking family!!!! I love it. I wish him nothing but misery in this life. I hope his children hate him. Human beings like him have no place being in a position of power because they abuse the hell out of it. LT Anthony Bologna didn't even consider his fellow officers safety while he blasted those women with mace, he just walked away. Let's see him walk away from all the backlash he's going to get now that all his private information is posted online for the world to see. Hopefully he'll walk away from it...walk right over a cliff.

cr17

With your vitriol and misplaced blood-lust let's all hope and pray that you never get into a position of power.

TimeDown

Why are you happy that his family is being involved too? I never understand that. Would you like to be held accountable for every one of your family members' actions? I know I wouldn't. Go after the perpetrator, not his family.

percival_sweetwater

Harming the family would be wrong, but perhaps feeling the ire of thousands of people will enable them to see that their family member is a douche. If they don't realize it, then a few more douches have been revealed. Sometimes the greatest push for reform comes from within. Hopefully familial pressure helps this guy see the light.

TimeDown

I disagree with that tactic but even if I didn't it comes with a false assumption that his family doesn't already think he is a douche before this happened. His family, besides his wife, had no choice in being his family. For all we know his children despise him yet now they are being hurt by his actions.

i > u

Wars often result in collateral damage. Too bad huh?

TimeDown

No. You're an idiot. No one but criminals intentional seek collateral damage. Here collateral damage was intentional sought. But I guess I can always hope that you are part of collateral damage in the future. Maybe then you'll understand.

Brice Davis

this whole thing in the middle east has been one big collateral damage. look at all the innocent people killed that weren't carrying a gun.......we killed em! moms, brothers, sisters, grandparents..... and now some of em are our LE!? what do you call that again.... oh an accident. i think not. we're better than that, but we've show something different to the world...... we went after em because we found a pass port on the NY streets from the blown up terrorist and oh man...... i cant get into this on here. can i just high five you in the face please!!???. we made a whole country pay for what "whoever" did to the NYTT. is that fair!!?? NO!!!!! whose Tax dollars went into doing that!?; * Is that Collateral damage*

TimeDown

Why are you responding to me? I never said any of those things were fair or acceptable. But that doesn't make this "collateral damage" fair either. For the future maybe you should organize your thoughts a little bit before posting.

Detex

They are fine with f*cking with someones family so long as it is not theirs!

TimeDown

I think it's wrong that they do that as well. I work for criminal defense attorneys. I see more police abuse and misconduct in a month than most people see in their lives. But I never advocate for attacking innocent people based solely on familial relationships, regardless of who is doing it.