A Boston police sergeant has been placed on administrative leave and the department's Bureau of Professional Standards has been ordered to investigate after a series of body camera videos taken during racial justice protests over the summer were released in a report Friday.
The Appeal, which first published the videos, reports police officers are seen "bragging about attacking protesters, targeting nonviolent demonstrators for violence and possible arrest, discussing arrest quotas and the use of cars as weapons, and multiple instances of excessive force and liberal use of pepper spray."
"As soon as these videos were brought to my attention, I immediately ordered my Bureau of Professional Standards to open and conduct a thorough and fair investigation into this matter, and the totality of circumstances involved," Police Commissioner William Gross said in a statement Friday night.
