Anthony Bologna, the officer seen on video pepper-spraying two women during an early Occupy Wall Street protest, could be personally liable for damages in their civil lawsuit against him. The city has opted not to defend the 29-year veteran, leaving him to pay his own legal fees (with the help of his union). “He wasn’t doing this as Anthony Bologna, mister,” his lawyer is arguing, hoping to reverse the department’s position. “He was doing this as Anthony Bologna, deputy inspector, NYPD.” But the city wants nothing to do with it, and that could make things awkward: “Obviously, [Bologna’s] best position is to claim the city and his superiors authorized him to behave this way, and the city’s best position is to say he was unpredictably violative of people’s constitutional rights in this situation,” said attorney Richard Emery. That sounds promising for the accusers.
