Salon.com > Pepper-spray

Occubaby is born!

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 21:34:00 +0000

Salon is thrilled to share news of the birth of Occubaby. As we reported last month, a young woman who was pepper-sprayed by the NYPD during an early Occupy protest fell in love with, and became pregnant by, the street medic who tended to her stinging eyes.

According to a report from The Daily, Occubaby, real name Tegan Kathleen Grodt, was born to Robert Grodt and Kaylee Dedrick on Sept. 28. Even in its first days, the littlest Occupier can represent -- The Daily noted that a onesie bearing the letters "Occupy Wall Street" was sent to the couple by the OWS Screen Guild.

Watch the infamous pepper spraying incident below, an unexpected start to love and a new little life:

$1 million to pepper-sprayed protesters

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 18:07:00 +0000

It's a good news week for pepper-sprayed Occupy protesters. On Monday Salon noted that a young woman famously pepper-sprayed by an NYPD officer is expecting a baby with the medic who helped her stung eyes. Now, the ACLU reports, the University of California will pay out a $1 million settlement to demonstrators doused in pepper spray during a demonstration at U.C. Davis last November. Each of the 21 plaintiffs will receive $30,000, plus an additional $250,000 will go to cover the suit's legal costs.

Images of "pepper-spray cop," campus police officer John Pike, blasting sitting demonstrators with orange pepper spray garnered viral attention. The district attorney determined Pike's behavior "not objectively reasonable," but did not seek criminal charges.

Weird news: Occubaby on the way

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 21:16:00 +0000

It was one of the first videos to highlight police brutality as a central issue in the Occupy narrative. Last September, three young women contained in NYPD orange nets on a New York corner screamed and cried, eyes streaming, as deputy inspector Anthony Bologna seemingly indiscriminately doused them in pepper spray.

Now there's a story twist begging for inclusion in any Occupy screenplays (no doubt being penned): one of the pepper-sprayed women fell in love with the volunteer street medic who helped her that day, and they are expecting a baby.

As New York Times CityRoom editor Andy Newman reported: