A 75-year-old man who was seen being pushed to the ground by Buffalo police and bleeding on the floor during a protest last year is suing police and other officials, according to court documents.
Martin Gugino suffered a skull fracture at the June 4 meeting, which was captured on video.
The lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the West District of New York seeks economic damage as well as punitive damages “in an amount sufficient to punish them and deter others from similar conduct.”
A prosecutor opened charges against two Buffalo policemen, Robert McCabe and Aaron Torgalski, but a grand jury earlier this month rejected the charges and the case was closed.
These two policemen are cited in the civil action, in addition to a third party not indicted, along with the city hall, the police commissioner and Mayor Byron Brown.
Requests for comments sent via email to the mayor’s office and the police department were not immediately returned on Tuesday, but on Monday, the city made no comment to NBC affiliate WGRZ. A spokesman told the station that the corporation’s attorney would handle the case.
Gugino was pushed right after the 8 pm curfew.
The protest took place after the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck on May 25. Floyd’s death sparked protests across the country.
The complaint says the police team “shouted in chorus, ‘push, push'” after Gugino approached a line of police with batons and helmets.
It is alleged that another police officer pushed McCabe and Torgalski towards the activist and they pushed him, causing him to fall and be seriously injured.
After the charges were dismissed earlier this month, the president of the Buffalo Benevolent Police Association defended the actions of the officers.
“Officers McCabe and Torgalski were simply following departmental procedures and their superiors’ guidelines to clean up Niagara Square, despite working in extremely challenging circumstances,” said union president John Evans, in a statement.
Gugino suffered a concussion and fractured his skull and spent almost a month in the hospital.
Gugino said he believed the curfew was wrong.
The lawsuit claims that Gugino’s right to peaceful assembly was violated, that the use of force against him was illegal and unnecessary and that the curfew was unconstitutional.
