This disturbing video is making the rounds today, and there are conflicting reports of what it documents.
The man on the ground has been identified as 32-year-old Ari Douglas, a legal observer at the Occupy Wall Street protests for the National Lawyer’s Guild. The video appears to show a police officer running over Mr. Douglas’ leg with a scooter.
There are updated reports at Gothamist, NYO, NY Mag, and the New York Times.
Initial reports said Mr. Douglas was hit and run over with the scooter, and that his leg was broken; the video appears to show him writing and screaming in pain.
The NYPD denies this, and says he “put his legs under the scooter and then claimed falsely he was trapped.”
Medical treatment was delayed, but Douglas was eventually taken to Bellevue Hospital where he was treated in the emergency room. The Times quotes Gideon Oliver, a committee member of the NLG, which has been providing legal aid to the protesters.
Mr. Oliver said the police took Mr. Douglas to the Seventh Precinct station house before bringing him to the hospital for medical treatment. Another lawyer for the guild who went to the station house to try to speak to Mr. Douglas and others said his request was denied, Mr. Oliver said. “That is very bad,” he said.