FRIDAY: Protest March Against NYPD

Civil rights advocates and progressives will march in protest of NYPD brutality this Friday in Manhattan.

In response to more than 80 arrests during a demonstration Saturday near Union Square, protesters plan to rally Friday afternoon against what they say was “brutal” behavior by cops, and will march from Zuccotti Park, near Wall Street, to the NYPD’s headquarters at 1 Police Plaza. “They have completely lost control,” protester Larry Hales, 34, said of the police’s response, noting that several videos on Youtube appear to show cops shoving, striking and using pepper spray on protesters. “We’re hoping to make demands that they stop targeting the activists down at Wall Street and that the charges are dropped for those that were arrested.” “They haven’t scared activists into going underground,” Hales added. “They’re not going to stop people from protesting.”

It's been learned that the cop accused of pepper-spraying several young women this weekend was sued for using excessive force during the 2004 Republican Convention. Most protesters agree that the majority of the officers they've encountered have been fairly respectful in a difficult situation, but that the NYPD continues to shield their bad apples. Same as it ever was.