Two Buffalo police officers accused of shoving a 75-year-old man to the ground during a protest over the death of George Floyd were charged with second-degree assault Saturday.
Officers Aaron Torgalski and Robert McCabe both pleaded not guilty to the videotaped shove and were released without bail, according to the Buffalo News.
Torgalski was seen in the now-viral clip pushing 75-year-old Martin Gugino during a Thursday protest. McCabe knelt toward the man before being moved along by a supervisor, the video shows.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo praised the arrests Saturday, claiming that Torgalski and McCabe's actions were "horrendous."
"It was disgusting and I think illegal. Police have to do their job and protect public safety but there also has to be accountability for police who act improperly," Cuomo said during his daily briefing.
"There is no tolerance for delaying justice," Cuomo said regarding the swift arrests. "A bad police officer is the enemy of all good police officers."
Mayor Byron Brown on Friday claimed the Gugino was a "major instigator" of vandalism and violence among protesters in the upstate city.
"He was trying to spark up the crowd of people," said Brown, according to WBEN-AM radio. "Those people were there into the darkness. Our concern is when it gets dark, there is a potential for violence. There has been vandalism, there have been fires set, there have been stores broken into and looted.
"According to what was reported to me, that individual was a key and major instigator of people engaging in those activities," he said.
The officers were suspended without pay but remain on the Buffalo police force. Fifty-seven members of the Buffalo Police's Emergency Response Team resigned in response to the suspensions.
Buffalo Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood called the last few weeks "a very challenging time" but defended his department Saturday.
"I stand by the men and women of the Buffalo Police Department and I'm proud of how they have handled the vast majority of the situations and encounters that they have faced," he said in a statement.
Gugino remained hospitalized in critical condition after cracking his head on the sidewalk, with blood leaking from a wound onto the sidewalk.
Mayor Brown says the septuagenarian was asked to leave several times by police trying to clear out protesters on the streets after the 8 p.m. curfew. He said he wouldn't call for the officers to be fired before the investigation was complete.
"He was in the area after the curfew," said Brown. "One of the things that happened before was conflict among protesters and there was a danger of fights breaking out, and police felt it was important to clear that scene for the safety of protesters."
.png?w=600)
