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[UPDATE] Video: NYPD Scooter Runs Over National Lawyers Guild Legal Observer
By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 14, 2011
Modified Oct 14, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 14, 2011
Modified Oct 14, 2011
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[UPDATES BELOW] Here is disturbing video of a legal observer for the National Lawyers Guild getting run over by an NYPD scooter during this morning's Occupy Wall Street march. We're still trying to determine how badly he was injured, but one witness speculated that he broke his leg. Attorney Gideon Oliver, a member of the National Lawyers Guild, confirms that the man seen in this harrowing video is in fact a legal observer for the NLG, and that he was arrested and then hospitalized. He's currently in police custody in the emergency room. We'll update more as it comes in, but for now, there's this:
The NYPD repeatedly drove scooters at high speeds through crowds of demonstrators during this morning's march, and another demonstrator was beaten after kicking a police scooter. In this case, the unidentified legal observer will be charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, obstruction of governmental administration, and two counts of criminal mischief.
Oliver tells us, "It's absolutely outrageous he was assaulted in the first place, it is outrageous that he was arrested, and outrageous he was assaulted after he was arrested—he has injuries to his face. It's an example of the police putting charges against someone just to cover their ass. We ask that the NYPD releases him without charges immediately after he's treated."
Update 4:45 p.m.: The legal observer in this video has been identified as Ari Douglas, and while the extent of his injuries remains unclear, some doubt has been cast on earlier reports that he was seriously injured. A photographer for the Daily News who witnessed the confrontation, Joe Marino, says "the bike definitely hit him" but the officer didn't run him over. "I saw him sticking his legs under the bike to make it appear he was run over," Marino claims.
Another photographer who witnessed the incident believes Douglas was run over. And another legal observer, Zainab Akbar, tells the News, "His leg was stuck under the bike, and he kicked his leg to get the bike off his leg, and then the police attacked him and shoved him into the ground and put a night stick against the back of his neck."
Here's video from a different angle, via The Local:
OWS_PoliceScooter from The Local East Village on Vimeo.
Tagged
national lawyers guild
occupy wall street
police brutality
police stupidity
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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