Nadler calls on Holder to investigate the clearing of Zuccotti Park
The police perimeter at Cortlandt Street. Tom McGeveran
11:16 am Dec. 6, 2011
Representative Jerrold Nadler is calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the NYPD's clearing of Occupy Wall Street protesters from Zuccotti Park last month.
In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Nadler, who represents a portion of Lower Manhattan that includes the park, writes of "credible and troubling reports of alleged police misconduct ... possible unlawful surveillance of individuals engaged in constitutionally protected activities, as well as restrictions on, and the arrest and mistreatment of, members of the press covering the protests."
Nadler cites incidents going back to Sept. 24, and says he was "especially troubled" by the arrest of journalists during the clearing of the park on November 15.
Nadler said Mayor Michael Bloomberg's claims that the NYPD restricted reporters for their own protection "appears to have little merit."
"Journalists enter war zones to inform the American people about the status of those conflicts," he wrote. "I think they can be trusted to assume the risks associated with covering a non-violent protest."
Nadler's letter focused on the events in New York, but calls on Holder to investigate the clearing of Occupy encampments in other cities as well.
A spokesman for the mayor did not immediately return a request for comment.
