Cameraman Attacked at Occupy Rally...By Police?

Occupy rallies are frequently accused of facilitating violence, especially between the protestors themselves. Occupiers, of course, frequently complain of police brutality as a form of moral equivalence.

In the case of this video by an unknown videographer at Occupy Minneapolis, they may have a point:

The video shows a police officer no attacking no less an eminence than a videographer for Minneapolis' KSTP 5 Eyewitness News. In other words, this wasn't just some random video blogger getting hit for refusing to comply with police orders - it was a professional news reporter. In fact, you can watch coverage of the protests by KSTP right here:

Mediabistro reports that the Minneapolis Police Department plans to look into the incident:

In a written statement to KSTP, Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan said that his department is currently reviewing the incident.

“The Minneapolis Police Department will not support unjustified uses of force,” Dolan stated.

Radford says that KSTP will consider taking legal action after evaluating the full extent of the damage to the camera.

Police brutality against anyone is a serious matter, and hopefully this will be solved quickly. Ironically enough, Occupy Minneapolis itself has disavowed the sort of violence practiced at Occupy Oakland. To all appearances, this really was a peaceful protest.