Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown criticized the actions of local police officers that led to 75-year-old protester Martin Gugino’s hospitalization by saying he didn’t think “common sense was used.”
Mr. Gugino suffered head injuries when he fell after being pushed by police during a protest earlier this month.
“I don’t believe common sense was used. I don’t believe the push was necessary,” Mr. Brown, a Democrat, told CBS News in an interview that aired Saturday.
Mr. Gugino was injured after being pushed by two members of the Buffalo Police Department breaking up a peaceful protest taking place outside City Hall on the night of June 4 in violation of a curfew that had been recently imposed as a result of nationwide unrest sparked by last month’s racially charged killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Video captured Mr. Gugino falling backward upon being pushed, hitting his head and then bleeding while laying motionless among dozens of members of BPD’s Emergency Response Team.
“I immediately thought about: Is he gonna be OK? It was horrific. I was very worried for his health, immediately praying,” Mr. Brown said about first seeing the video.
“But then had to reach out very quickly to the management of the Buffalo Police Department to try to make sense of what I had seen,” Mr. Brown told CBS.
Both officers involved — Robert McCabe and Aaron Torgalski — have been suspended without pay and charged with counts of second-degree assault. They have pleaded not guilty.
Mr. Brown said that he believes it was “appropriate” to suspend the officers but added that they “deserve their day in court like every American who is charged with anything.”
Kelly V. Zarcone, a lawyer representing Mr. Gugino, said Friday that the longtime protester suffered a fractured skull and is not yet able to walk, The Buffalo News reported. She previously said that his brain has been injured as well.
Floyd, a black man, died May 25 after being restrained by several members of the Minneapolis Police Department, sparking protests nationwide and globally against police brutality and systemic racism.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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