Cop Block Activist Pepper Sprayed, Assaulted, Kidnapped for Flipping Off a Cop

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — A Saratoga Springs police officer may lose his job for pepper spraying a man who flipped him off.

Officer Nathan Baker was on duty when Adam Rupeka, a member of police accountability group Cop Block, gave Officer Baker the middle finger. The officer responded by pulling over Rupeka’s vehicle.

Rupeka began filming the encounter before Baker approached his vehicle. The officer asked Rupeka for his license and registration, and Rupeka agreed to provide that information if he was told what crime he was suspected of committing.

Instead of articulating a crime, Officer Baker assaulted Rupeka by spraying him in the face with pepper spray and twisting his arm behind the vehicle’s driver-side door, forcing him out of the vehicle. Baker then kidnapped Rupeka under color of law.

At the time of writing, it does not appear Officer Baker is being charged with any crime, but he is scheduled for a disciplinary hearing in which the Saratoga Springs Chief of Police is expected to terminate Baker’s employment. Rupeka has filed a civil lawsuit against the officer as well.

A video of the encounter is available below: