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Video: Cops Arresting New School Protesters with Pepper Spray Contradicts Official Statement
By
John Del Signore
Published Apr 10, 2009
Modified Apr 10, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Apr 10, 2009
Modified Apr 10, 2009
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Well, it's still unclear whether police used tear gas in breaking up this morning's student occupation of a New School on Fifth Avenue and 13th Street, but this striking video shows that plenty of pepper spray was liberally applied. Earlier today, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne told City Room it was “untrue that pepper spray or mace was used in effectuating the arrests." Could it be he was fibbing? See for yourself, but only if you want your faith in NYPD flacks utterly shattered.
The video was shot by freelance journalist Brandon Jourdan. What you're looking at in the beginning is a side door at the building, through which students were trying to escape as police went through the front to make arrests. Jourdan's steady camerawork eventually pulls back to show the pandemonium on the sidewalks by the New School, where many students had gathered to get their fair share of abuse.
Tagged
new school
Occupation
video
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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