NEW YORK (AP) — Video of a police officer appearing to shove an elderly protester who falls and cracks his head in Buffalo drew widespread condemnation.
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Video from WFBO showed a Buffalo police officer appearing to push the 75-year-old man who walked up to police clearing Niagara Square around the 8 p.m. curfew Thursday. The man falls straight backward and hits his head on the pavement, with blood leaking out as officers walk past.
The video quickly went viral on social media, spurring outrage. Buffalo police initially said in a statement that a person “was injured when he tripped & fell,” WIVB-TV reported, but Capt. Jeff Rinaldo later told the TV station that an internal affairs investigation was opened. The police commissioner subsequently suspended two police officers without pay, Mayor Byron Brown said in a statement.
The mayor of the western New York city, who expressed he was “deeply disturbed” by the video, said the unidentified man was in “stable but serious” condition at a hospital.
“While it is early, thankfully he is expected to recover,” Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz tweeted shortly after midnight.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo endorsed the officers’ suspensions, tweeting that what was seen on video was “wholly unjustified and utterly disgraceful.” The office of State Attorney General Letitia James tweeted that they were aware of the video. U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer called for an investigation, according to a statement reported by WIVB-TV.
“The casual cruelty demonstrated by Buffalo police officers tonight is gut-wrenching and unacceptable,” John Curr, the Buffalo chapter director for the New York Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement, adding that it should be a “wake-up call” for city leaders to address police violence.
Calls and emails to Buffalo police from The Associated Press seeking comment Thursday night hadn’t been returned by Friday morning.
I saw the video before the Buffalo cop shoved the elderly gentlemen; the older person was not doing anything, but standing. However, because he didn’t immediately move when they wanted him to do so, two young punk cops, less than half his age, physically and forcefully shoved him, causing him to strike his head on the pavement. Worse, they and other cops walked past the older man, as if he was garbage lying on the sidewalk, with his head profusely bleeding. In addition to the cops who pushed the old guy being suspended, those other cops who refused to render aid and assistance, should also be suspended.
Old lives matter
When will the fascist here post explaining why this was not an assault deserving of prison time?
They post on every article arguing against those protesting injustice.
They are small men, who are afraid and lack faith in God.
It was just a small shove. What’s really bad is that they do nothing to help him as he lay there with blood pouring out of his head.
I think what the Black Lives Maters movement is missing is that police brutality takes place against EVERYONE, not only black people. Clearly, they don’t even hold back from assaulting the elderly!
The police are out of control with their self-appointed power because they do not police themselves. Something needs to be done, something needs to change. Marching only for black lives does not address the full scope of the problem.
There needs to be an independent oversight commission on police. Think about it, if a cop assaults you, you are expected to report that to…. the cops? His buddies, who have each others’ backs, and don’t care about anyone else?
When you play with mud you will get dirty. Old man shouldn’t have been there in the first place.
i think that us old white folks now have the right to riot and loot
I see all 57 members of the unit resigned in solidarity with the guys who attacked the old man. I hope they never get their jobs back.
This was not the case a month ago. Republicans repeatedly said they were willing to let old people die to restart the economy.
I think their punishment should be that when the 75 year old man recovers , he gets to shoot rounds and rounds of rubber bullets into the faces and behinds of every BLASTED POLICE OFFICER OF BUFFALO