After the video of the meeting went viral, the police initially told reporters that the man “tripped and fell” without making any mention of the role of the police.
@ WBFO / Twitter / Via Twitter: @WBFO
The criminal charges were dropped on Thursday against two police officers in Buffalo, New York, who violently pushed a 75-year-old protester, making him fall, hit his head on the sidewalk and bled out of his ear, officials said.
Graphic video of the incident captured by the local NPR station WBFO showed the moment when officials pushed the peace activist during a Black Lives Matter protest in June, and it quickly went viral. The footage shows the man, Martin Gugino, walking up to the policemen who start shouting “Move!” and “Push it back!” while applying a curfew in the city.
Two of the officers seen in the video, Aaron Torgalski and Robert McCabe, faced charges of second-degree assault, but a grand jury that analyzed the cases voted to reject them, Erie County district attorney John Flynn told a news conference at Thursday.
Despite the grand jury’s decision, Flynn said he did not regret trying to bring criminal charges against the police.
Erie County District Attorney’s Office via AP
“I do not apologize for that and, if I had to do it again, I would do the same thing without any doubt,” he said.
Gugino, who was described by friends and family as a peaceful protester, was treated for a head injury and loss of consciousness.
The police initially told reporters that Gugino “tripped and fell” without making any mention of the role of the police.
The incident led to widespread condemnation, including that of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who called the incident “totally unjustified and totally shameful”.
During Thursday’s press conference, Flynn said the grand jury was presented with all the relevant evidence, but noted that the proceedings are secret.
Erie County District Attorney’s Office via AP
“The grand jury proceedings are secret, they are sealed and no one will ever know what happened to that grand jury,” he told reporters. “So, you really just have my word that I didn’t hide anything. I put all the relevant information and evidence on that grand jury and presented everything to that grand jury and they made a decision.”
Flynn said the decision was not made until this week because the pandemic twice caused authorities to close the grand jury proceedings, delaying the review of the case.
Meanwhile, the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association, the union representing the police, applauded the grand jury’s decision.
“As we said all along, officers McCabe and Torgalski were simply following the departmental procedure and their superiors’ guidelines to clean Niagara Square, despite working in extremely challenging circumstances,” said union president John Evans in a communicated. “The Buffalo PBA continues to firmly support officers McCabe and Torgalski.”