2 Buffalo Cops Charged With Felony Assault After Shoving 75-Year-Old Protester

A widely shared video showed police pushing a peaceful protester to the ground, after the department initially reported the man “tripped and fell.”

Video shows Buffalo police shoving a peaceful protester, injuring him. | Twitter/ WBFO
Video shows Buffalo police shoving a peaceful protester, injuring him. | Twitter/ WBFO

Two Buffalo cops have been charged with assault after they aggressively shoved a 75-year-old protester while enforcing the city’s curfew during a peaceful demonstration, the city’s district attorney said.

Aaron Torgalski, 39, and Robert McCabe, 32 were each charged with second-degree assault on Saturday. They were virtually arraigned before City Court Judge Craig D. Hannah and “released on their own recognizance,” DA John J. Flynn said in a release. The officers pleaded not guilty, the New York Times reported, and are scheduled to appear in court on July 20 for a felony hearing.

If convicted, Torgalski and McCabe face a maximum of seven years in prison. The officers were suspended without pay on Friday after a widely shared video taken Thursday night showed them shoving Martin Gugino, 75, the ground, where he laid without moving and sustained a serious head injury. Video shows him bleeding from his head on the sidewalk. Police initially reported that Gugino “tripped and fell” before video of the encounter was released.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said early Friday that Gugino was “alert and oriented” after he was transported to the hospital.

During a press conference on Saturday, DA Flynn said that charging the cops doesn’t signify he’s “taking a side,” alluding to the protests against police brutality that have swept the nation in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Flynn said he’s also “prosecuted 39 protesters.”

“I’m not on anyone’s side. I’m on this country’s side— that’s what side I’m on. I’m on justice’s side,” Flynn said. “My job is to prosecute those who have violated the law, plain and simple, and I believe that — I’m alleging — these two officers violated the law.”

Flynn added that the state’s law qualifies the officers’ alleged crime as a felony if the victim is 65 years or older and the perpetrator is 10 years younger than the victim, adding that he doesn’t “doesn’t disagree” with the statute.

“It’s a proper statute, obviously, because we want to make sure our elderly aren’t getting physically abused,” he said.

Also on Friday, all 57 members of the Buffalo Police Department's Emergency Response Team resigned in support of cops who were suspended, according to multiple reports. Buffalo Police Benevolent Association President John Evans reportedly sent an email to members, saying that the PBA would not pay legal defense funds related to the protests for any ERT or SWAT members. Evans also said the cops who cleared out protesters "did nothing wrong" and were "simply following orders."

The officers who resigned from the special squad are trained to manage large protests or riots, according to WGRZ. They are still employed on the force, but resigned their posts as emergency responders.

KSBY reported that two of those officers anonymously told the local outlet over the weekend that at least some of the officers resigned because they didn’t believe the city would protect them from any charges connected to ongoing demonstrations.

The city’s mayor Byron Brown told MSNBC on Friday that the police union has historically interfered with attempts to improve relations with the department in Buffalo.

"This union has been on the wrong side of history for a very long period of time and they have been a real barrier to reform of policing in the city of Buffalo,” Byron said.