Cuomo urges criminal investigation into Buffalo cops caught on video shoving elderly man
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday he was sickened by Buffalo, N.Y. police officers caught shoving a 75-year-old man to the ground and urged their firing and potential criminal charges.
"I was sick to my stomach," Cuomo said Friday at his press conference, after playing the video of an elderly white man bleeding from his head on the pavement after police pushed him.
BUFFALO PROTESTER PUSHED TO GROUND, STARTS BLEEDING, VIDEO SHOWS; 2 COPS SUSPENDED: REPORTS
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Cuomo revealed he had spoken Friday to the victim over the phone who "thankfully, is alive."
Two Buffalo police officers have already been suspended without pay and an internal affairs investigation launched after the shocking video showed officers push an elderly man, who then fell to the ground and started bleeding on the sidewalk.
"He's bleeding out his ear!" someone is heard saying in the video.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Officers are seen continuing to walk by the man as he's laying on the sidewalk, bleeding.
"You see that video and it disturbs your basic sense of decency and humanity," Cuomo said, pondering how an "older gentleman" could possibly have threatened the officers. "... It's just fundamentally offensive and frightening ... how did we get to this place?"
NYPD CONFRONTS GEORGE FLOYD DEMONSTRATORS AS CURFEW TAKES EFFECT
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Cuomo praised the swift suspension of the officers by Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown but he pressed for action against them.
"I think the city should pursue firing," Cuomo said. "And I think the district attorney should look at the situation for possible criminal charges."
Meanwhile, Cuomo unveiled his own criminal justice plan called the "Say Their Name Reform Agenda" in honor of the "long list" of people who have been abused by the police.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CUOMO EXPANDS CORONAVIRUS TESTING TO INCLUDE GEORGE FLOYD PROTESTERS
He said New York needs to uphold its legacy as the "progressive capital" and take the lead by passing the police reforms next week.
The four pillars of the plan are to release police disciplinary records, ban the use of chokeholds, make false race-based 911 reports a hate crime and establish the attorney general as the independent prosecutor when civilians are killed by police.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Enough is enough," Cuomo said. "Change the law. Take the moment. Reform."