BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – Prosecutors were investigating Friday after a video captured police in Buffalo shoving a 75-year-old man who then fell and cracked his head, a confrontation that resulted in the suspension of two officers.
Video from public radio station WBFO of Thursday night’s encounter, which happened near the conclusion of protests over the death of George Floyd in Minnesota, quickly sparked public outrage and a protest by city police who felt the officers were being mistreated.
It shows a man identified as Martin Gugino approaching a line of helmeted officers holding batons as they clear demonstrators from Niagara Square around the time of an 8 p.m. curfew. Two officers push Gugino backward, and he hits his head on the pavement. Blood spills as officers walk past. One officer leans down to check on the injured man before he is urged along by another officer. Gugino and the officers all appear to be white, but details of their backgrounds were not released.
“Why? Why was that necessary? Where was the threat?” asked Gov. Andrew Cuomo at his daily briefing Friday. The governor said he spoke to Gugino, who had been hospitalized in serious condition. “It’s just fundamentally offensive and frightening. How did we get to this place?”
The confrontation raised concerns about more possible flare-ups in Buffalo this weekend, especially after city officers resigned en masse from the police squad charged with crowd control. The resigning officers are not leaving their jobs.