2 CHP Officers, Videotaped Beating Protesters, Suspended Without Pay

Two California Highway Patrol officers were suspended without pay after a videotape showed them beating two Persian Gulf War protesters during a demonstration in January, a newspaper reported Saturday.

Officer Reginald Redmond was suspended for 20 days and Officer Nicholas Chouprov was suspended for 10 days for “inefficiency, inexcusable neglect of duty . . . and discourteous treatment of the public,” according to suspension notices sent out last week, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The incident occurred Jan. 19 when Eli Rosenblatt and Aaron Lamperti joined about 50 demonstrators at a ramp to U.S. 101 to clog northbound traffic.

As he was apparently sitting on the ground, Lamperti’s leg was broken by a blow from Redmond’s baton. Rosenblatt suffered cuts and bruises after being hit with batons by both officers.

The discipline report on the officers said that the demonstrators “were blatantly endangering the lives of the motoring public and themselves” by blocking traffic. However, cars were moving again when the beatings occurred and most of the protesters were sitting at the side of the road, according to the Chronicle. The videotape was made by another protester.