These photos and videos depict a New York Police Department Lieutenant named Connolly striking protesters blindly with a baton.  This man has been identified as Lt. Brian Connolly of the 9th Precinct, who was awarded the Medal for Valor in 2007.

UPDATE: October 9, 2011

We have received a number of complaints via email and in the comments on this post stating that this is not Lt. Brian Connolly.  Nearly all of the complaints utilize generic email addresses from AOL or Yahoo, such as apple12@aol.com and accuse us of all sorts of things that we have not done.  Some claim that the officer pictured is not Lt. Brian Connolly of the 9th Precinct.  Some claim it is an officer named Connolly but not Brian.  Some claim that it isn’t even a person named Connolly.

By examining his badge, we can tell that this officer is a Lietuenant, which is clearly stated on the badge itself, and that his name is Connolly.  Moreover, the identity of the Lieutenant Connolly pictured in the photos has been confirmed in the following article from Mother Jones:

“In one clip, a senior officer later identified as Lieutenant Brian Connolly can be seen beating protesters with a baton. Another officer then doused the crowd with pepper spray. Connolly, who was awarded the Medal for Valor in 2007, struck local Fox television journalist Dick Brennan with his baton. A Fox photographer, Roy Isen, was sprayed in the eyes with mace.”

http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/10/occupy-wall-street-police-violence

There are also photos available online of Lt. Brian Connolly of the 9th Precinct.  Here is one example:

http://www.thevillager.com/villager_146/policebustafterhour.html