The use of pepper spray on Occupy Wall Street protesters is being investigated:
The police and Manhattan prosecutors are separately examining a high-ranking officer’s use of pepper spray on a number of female protesters at a demonstration on Saturday.
Raymond W. Kelly, commissioner of the New York Police Department, said Wednesday that its Internal Affairs Bureau would look at the decision by the officer, Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna, to use pepper spray, even as Mr. Kelly criticized the protesters for “tumultuous conduct.”
At the same time, the office of the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., has opened an investigation into the episode, which was captured on video and disseminated on the Internet, according to a person briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the inquiry is continuing.
A key trigger for these investigations was a blog post early in the morning of Sept. 28 by Daily Kos community member Charlie Grapski. The post, titled "Bologna's Second Attack with Pepper Spray," included two videos (one in slow motion, one in regular speed) of a second pepper spray attack against demonstrators on Saturday. You can see the videos at the top of this post.
Around mid-day on Sept. 28, news outlets such as New York Magazine and the New York Times not only reported the emergence of a second pepper spray attack on video, but credited Grapski for the video. The Guardian also credited Grapski.
Early on Wednesday, Charlie Grapski, in a diary for the Daily Kos, posted a slow-motion edit of just the portion of the video that showed Inspector Bologna spraying the retreating protesters.
The investigations were announced a few hours after the New York Times posted the video of the second attack. Further, since that time, news reports about the Occupy Wall Street protests have grown significantly, at least if Google News is any indication.
Take a bow, Charlie Grapski. For more on this subject, please read noise of rain's post on the recommended list.