More than 100 police officers, firefighters and other supporters crowded outside the courthouse in Buffalo to protest the assault charges filed against the officers.
Two Buffalo police officers were charged on Saturday with felony assault for pushing a 75-year-old man who was protesting outside City Hall on Thursday night, officials said.
“We had two of our police officers who crossed the line,” the Erie County district attorney, John J. Flynn, told reporters after the arraignment. “My job is to prosecute those who have violated the law, plain and simple. And I believe, and I’m alleging, that these two officers violated the law.”
Prosecutors identified the officers as Aaron Torgalski,39, and Robert McCabe,32. They pleaded not guilty and were released on personal recognizance.
The charges were filed after a widely viewed video showed two police officers appearing to shove Martin Gugino, who has been identified as an activist and a member of the Western New York Peace Center. Mr. Gugino, who was shoved after he approached officers, staggered backward and landed hard on the sidewalk. Blood was seen immediately pooling behind his head.
The two officers were suspended without pay, a move that incited outrage from the rank and file. The president of the officers’ union, the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association, told The Buffalo News that the city’s actions led all 57 officers on the Emergency Response Team to quit the unit in disgust.
