Two Buffalo police officers were arraigned on Saturday on felony assault charges after a viral video showed them shoving an elderly protestor who remains critically injured after falling at a march against racism.
Officers Aaron Torgalski, 39, and Robert McCabe, 32, were part of a unit in tactical gear enforcing an 8 p.m. curfew on Thursday during the protest involving long-time community activist Martin Gugino, 75, Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said in a statement.
“The two defendants, who are Buffalo Police officers, pushed a protestor outside of City Hall, causing him to fall and hit his head on the sidewalk,” Flynn said.
Both pleaded not guilty to second-degree assault during the virtual arraignment before Buffalo City Court Judge Craig D. Hannah. They were released on their own recognizance and are due back in court on July 20.
If convicted of the charge, they face up to 7 years in prison.
Members of the Buffalo Police Department’s Emergency Response Team, the officers have been suspended without pay and are being investigated after a local radio station released video of the incident involving Gugino, which went viral and had more than 78 million views by midday Saturday.
He remains in critical condition at Erie County Medical Center, where he was treated for a head injury, loss of consciousness and bleeding from the right ear, Flynn said.
The western New York state city saw pockets of looting after dark like many cities across the United States, where countless otherwise peaceful protests were staged in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a black man in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.
The video shows Torgalski pushing Gugino before he fell and McCabe about to kneel toward the man sprawled on the sidewalk before being moved along by a supervisor, the Buffalo News reported. Police initially said the man tripped.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said he has not asked for the officers to be fired.
“It is very important that the officers know they are getting due process,” Brown said. “Our information was that individual was an agitator.”
(Additional reporting by Barbara Goldberg in Maplewood, New Jersey; Editing by Diane Craft)
