BUFFALO, N.Y. — A 75-year-old man has been hospitalized after being pushed by police officers during a protest in Buffalo, New York.
The incident was caught on camera.
The man can be seen talking to the officers and then being pushed as the officers seem to try to clear the streets, Thursday evening, WIVB reported. The man stumbles backward partially out of frame. When the video pans over, the man was lying on the ground with protesters saying he was bleeding from his ear.
At first, the department said the man tripped and fell, WGRZ reported. That was until the video, which was shot by WBFO, was released.
Mayor Byron Brown said the different accounts by police of what happened were due to the fact that officers were watching the events on a monitor that didn’t show exactly what transpired, WIVB reported.
The man was hospitalized in serious but stable condition, Brown told NBC News.
I've spoken to @MayorByronBrown who confirmed it was members of the Buffalo Police Dept. involved in today's incident with the protester who was pushed and hit his head. He indicated actions are being taken against two officers by BPD, which actions will be announced soon. https://t.co/HLINAXSZcd
— Mark Poloncarz (@markpoloncarz) June 5, 2020
Buffalo Police Department Capt. Jeff Rinaldo announced an internal affairs investigation was ordered by the police commissioner, WIVB reported.
Commissioner Byron Lockwood said the two officers in the video were immediately suspended without pay, WIVB reported.
Several Buffalo police officers have since resigned from their positions on the department’s emergency response team, Spectrum News and other media outlets are reporting.
Police source: In protest of discipline against two officers involved in the pushing video of last night, the SWAT and Riot teams of the Buffalo Police Department have resigned their special assignments. They remain officers, but have left those details.
— Bob Lonsberry (@BobLonsberry) June 5, 2020
WGRZ reported 57 officers designed from the special response unit because of the steps taken against the two officers in the video. At a news conference Friday afternoon, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said he could not confirm that the officers had resigned, but he said he would be “exceptionally disappointed" if they had.
He lamented the situation, telling reporters that he hoped “that one action ... does not destroy the efforts of so many to reach that agreement of all, that we can work together” to solve the issue of racial disparity in policing.
Cox Media Group
