Buffalo PD scandal: 57 cops ‘resign in disgust’ after 2 suspended for shoving 75-year-old Martin Gugino
BUFFALO, NEW YORK: Fifty-seven members of the Buffalo Police Department resigned from a special squad on Friday, June 5, to protest the suspension of two officers who were seen shoving a 75-year-old protester to the ground, causing him to hit his head on the sidewalk and suffer a serious injury.
While Martin Gugino, the 75-year-old was reported to be in stable but serious condition at Erie County Medical Center Hospital in Buffalo, the officers seen in the video shot by local NPR affiliate WBFO on Thursday, June 4, were suspended. The incident took place in Buffalo’s Niagara Square during an anti-police-brutality demonstration in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
The video shows Gugino standing in front of a line of police officers to talk. After an officer yelled, “Push him back,” three times, one officer shoved Gugino. The septuagenarian fell backward and hit his head on the pavement. Blood could be seen leaking from his right ear. When an officer leaned down to examine him, another officer pulled him away. Several other officers could then be seen walking by the man.
“I was deeply disturbed by the video,” Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said in a statement on Thursday, in the aftermath of the video going viral. “After days of peaceful protests and several meetings between myself, police leadership, and members of the community, tonight’s event is disheartening.”
Buffalo Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood, per Reuters, ordered an investigation and suspended the two officers, while New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that he spoke with Mayor Brown and agreed that the officers involved should be suspended, pending a formal investigation.
As per the New York Times, Erie County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement on Friday that prosecutors were investigating the incident. The statement said Gugino was unable to provide a statement to investigators on Thursday night.
John T. Evans, the president of the Buffalo police union, announced on the same day that all 57 officers on the Emergency Response Team, a special squad formed to respond to riots, had resigned from their posts in support of the officers who were suspended.
“Fifty-seven resigned in disgust because of the treatment of two of their members, who were simply executing orders,” Evans said. “At this time, we can confirm that contingency plans are in place to maintain police services and ensure public safety within our community. The Buffalo police continue to actively work with the New York State Police and other cooperating agencies.”
The response to the resignation of the officers has been met with cheers on social media. ‘Silicon Valley’ actor Kumail Nanjiani wrote on Twitter, “Hey that worked out. Now fire them.” Another Twitter user joked, “They tripped and fell out of the department.”
Others, however, were perplexed at the unwarranted anger of the policemen. Daily Beast editor-at-large Molly Jong-Fast commented, “Wait, they’re mad that someone got suspended for slamming a 75-year-old into the ground.” Author and columnist S. E. Cupp similarly wondered, “Resigned… in support of police brutality??”
A Twitter user wrote, “All 57 Buffalo officers resigned from their response team as a ‘show of support’ for the two officers who cracked an elderly man's skull. Think about that. This is why ‘just a bad apple’ doesn't work. It’s systemic. Organized and unionized corruption.”
Washington Post’s Eli Lopez noted, “Cops resigning in protest in defense of their colleagues who shoved an elderly man to the curb is peak America right now.”