22-04-2013, 07:02 AM
The Manhattan District Attorney will not be prosecuting the NYPD cops who were caught on video pepper-spraying and punching Occupy Wall Street protesters, the Daily News reported.
The DA's office made the announcement on Friday.
The cops in question are two Deputy Inspectors, Anthony Bologna and Johnny Cardona.
In video footage that surfaced in late 2011, Bologna was seen liberally pepper-spraying a seemingly calm crowd in Union Square on September 24, and Cardona was captured punching a protester named Felix Rivera-Pitre in the face in the Financial District on October 14.
Bologna was reportedly docked 10 vacation days, and Cardona was cleared by the department.
Manhattan DA spokeswoman Erin Duggan reportedly told the Daily News that additional evidence made it unclear that the officers' actions were unjustified.
"After a thorough investigation … we cannot prove these allegations criminally beyond a reasonable doubt," Duggan said.
Roy Richter, Captains Endowment Association President praised the decision, and hailed Cardona as "a true victim of the [Occupy Wall Street] fiasco." Cardona needed hip- and knee-replacement surgery due to injuries sustained during a demonstration.
Richter also said that Bologna "did nothing that rises to the level of criminal conduct."
Ron Kuby, an attorney who pressed for assault charges on behalf of victims in both cases, condemned the DA's decision, particularly in light of the office taking "almost 19 months to decide he would do nothing."
"Despite the overwhelming proof on videotape, seen around the world, Cy Vance Jr. has shown that he will do nothing to disturb his cozy relationship with the police, even in the face of the clearest wrongdoing," Kuby complained.
The DA's office made the announcement on Friday.
The cops in question are two Deputy Inspectors, Anthony Bologna and Johnny Cardona.
In video footage that surfaced in late 2011, Bologna was seen liberally pepper-spraying a seemingly calm crowd in Union Square on September 24, and Cardona was captured punching a protester named Felix Rivera-Pitre in the face in the Financial District on October 14.
Bologna was reportedly docked 10 vacation days, and Cardona was cleared by the department.
Manhattan DA spokeswoman Erin Duggan reportedly told the Daily News that additional evidence made it unclear that the officers' actions were unjustified.
"After a thorough investigation … we cannot prove these allegations criminally beyond a reasonable doubt," Duggan said.
Roy Richter, Captains Endowment Association President praised the decision, and hailed Cardona as "a true victim of the [Occupy Wall Street] fiasco." Cardona needed hip- and knee-replacement surgery due to injuries sustained during a demonstration.
Richter also said that Bologna "did nothing that rises to the level of criminal conduct."
Ron Kuby, an attorney who pressed for assault charges on behalf of victims in both cases, condemned the DA's decision, particularly in light of the office taking "almost 19 months to decide he would do nothing."
"Despite the overwhelming proof on videotape, seen around the world, Cy Vance Jr. has shown that he will do nothing to disturb his cozy relationship with the police, even in the face of the clearest wrongdoing," Kuby complained.
"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws. - Mayer Rothschild
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass