Two Buffalo, New York, police officers have been absolved of charges in connection to an incident this summer where a protester at a Black Lives Matter rally was shoved to the ground and hospitalized, according to local news station WGRZ.
Officers Aaron Torgalski, 39, and Robert McCabe, 32 were initially charged with second-degree assault for pushing and injuring the 75-year-old man who fell on his head and then began bleeding. Erie County District Attorney John Flynn revealed on Thursday that there was a state penal law code that states if the victim is 65 years old or older and the perpetrator is 10 years younger, then the assailant should be charged with a felony.
2 Buffalo police officers, who violently pushed a 75-year-old man to the ground, had their assault charges dismissed by a grand jury.
The man was filmed bleeding and suffered a fractured skull. Officers Aaron Torgalski and Robert McCabe have been suspended with pay since July. pic.twitter.com/yCLqZbYaCS
— AJ+ (@ajplus) February 11, 2021
Although the officers were acquitted of the charges, a city spokesperson said Buffalo Police Captain Jeff Rinaldo confirmed that Torgalski and McCabe are "still suspended pending the conclusion of the internal investigation."
Both officers involved in the horrific incident were placed on administrative leave from the police department. Police officials have yet to announce if the offending officers will be reinstated, WGRZ reported.
At a June 2020 protest, New York resident Martin Gugino, 75, was shoved by a Buffalo police officer near the downtown area and the incident was recorded, then posted to the web.
The man sustained a fractured skull when he fell to the ground as a result of being pushed and weeks in the hospital with a head injury.
In an interview with USA Today, Gugino said he was recovering from the attack, but was hesitant to go into details because he only has a partial memory of the event due to head trauma. He told the publication that he needed video footage of the incident to help him fill in the spots he doesn’t recall.
The man deflected questions about his injury to bring light to instances where he said “a lot of people are injured, and a lot of people are killed,” and many times, there isn’t anything done because video evidence is not available.
The 75-year-old said he will continue to participate in protests and activism around the expression of the First Amendment but he’s anxious for a fresh start once he fully recovers.
“My life is headed in a new direction,” Gugino said. “How is it different? I’m not really sure yet.”
John Evans, the president of the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association, released a statement after the District Attorney’s announcement endorsing the decision to dismiss the charges.
"The Buffalo Police Benevolent Association is extremely pleased with today’s decision by a grand jury to dismiss charges against Buffalo Police Officers Robert McCabe and Aaron Torgalski," he said.
He added "as we have stated all along, Officers McCabe and Torgalski were simply following departmental procedures and the directives of their superiors to clear Niagara Square despite working under extremely challenging circumstances. The Buffalo PBA remains in staunch support of Officers McCabe and Torgalski."
District Attorney Flynn said the grand jury investigation was delayed because the grand jury was in recess due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and other cases had higher priority when it resumed, WGRZ reported.
