Buffalo, NY body camera footage released of officer pushing elderly protester to ground in June 2020
The incident happened last summer as nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd were gaining steam.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Buffalo police on Monday released body camera footage of officers knocking down a 75-year-old protester last summer, causing him a skull fracture.
The shoving incident occurred in Buffalo’s Niagara Square on June 4, 2020, as nationwide protests were sweeping the nation in response to the police custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The footage of the incident, shown from the perspective of three officers, appears to show Martin Gugino, a peace activist, approaching police officers in riot gear during a demonstration over Floyd’s death.
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"Push him back!" one of the officers can be heard shouting.
Two other officers appear to shove Gugino back – one using a baton, the other using his hands – causing Gugino to lose balance, fall backward, and smack his head on the pavement.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Several people off to the side could be heard shouting: "He’s bleeding! He’s bleeding out of his ears!" Another protester could be heard shouting profanities at the officers.
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The officers’ body camera footage, part of more than 16 hours of footage that day, was first obtained by the Buffalo News on a Freedom of Information Law request.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The incident drew international outrage after it was captured on video by WFBO reporter Mike Desmond.
President Donald Trump weighed in on the matter, surmising that Gugino was possibly an "ANTIFA provocateur." Friends of Gugino described him as a Catholic peace activist and not in any way affiliated with ANTIFA.
Gugino was transported to Erie County Medical Center having suffered a concussion and fractured skull. He was initially treated in the intensive care unit and released four weeks later on June 30.
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Two Buffalo police soldiers – Aaron Torgalski and Robert McCabe – were suspended without pay and arrested days later on a charge of second-degree assault. They pleaded not guilty and were released without bail pending further developments.
Last month, lawyers representing Gugino filed a lawsuit in federal court, just two weeks after criminal charges against the officers were dropped.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York, alleges that the City of Buffalo, Mayor Byron Brown, Police Commissioner Byron C. Lockwood, and Deputy Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia violated Gugino’s rights by enacting an "unconstitutional" and "draconian" weeklong 8 p.m. curfew that "was selectively enforced against peaceful protesters."
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It also accuses Buffalo police officers Robert McCabe, Aaron Torgalski, and John Losi of using "unlawful and unnecessary force" against Gugino by City Hall "by shoving him without warning in violation of his clearly established constitutional rights guaranteed under the First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News has reached out to the Buffalo Police Department seeking comment.
Fox News’ Louis Casiano and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.