Updates to our Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use. Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our website.

Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Buffalo Police Condemned for Attack on Old Man

Video of a police officer shoving an elderly protester who falls and cracks his head in Buffalo, New York drew widespread condemnation Thursday.

NEW YORK (AP) — Video of a police officer shoving an elderly protester who falls and cracks his head in Buffalo, New York, drew widespread condemnation Thursday.

Video from WFBO showed a Buffalo police officer pushing the 75-year-old man who walked up to police clearing Niagara Square around the 8 p.m. curfew Thursday. The man fell straight backward and hit his head on the pavement, with blood leaking out of an ear as officers walked past his prone body.

The video quickly went viral on social media, spurring outrage. Buffalo police said in a statement that a person "was injured when he tripped & fell," WIVB-TV reported. Captain Jeff Rinaldo later told the TV station that an internal affairs investigation has been opened. The police commissioner subsequently suspended two police officers without pay, Mayor Byron Brown said in a statement.

The mayor said he was "deeply disturbed" by the video, and that the unidentified man was in "stable but serious" condition at a hospital.

"While it is early, thankfully he is expected to recover," Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz tweeted shortly after midnight.

Governor Andrew Cuomo endorsed the officers’ suspensions, tweeting that what was seen on video was "wholly unjustified and utterly disgraceful." The office of State Attorney General Letitia James tweeted that they were aware of the video. Senator Charles Schumer called for an investigation, according to a statement reported by WIVB-TV.

"The casual cruelty demonstrated by Buffalo police officers tonight is gut-wrenching and unacceptable," John Curr, the Buffalo chapter director for the New York Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement, adding that it should be a "wake-up call" for city leaders to address police violence.

Calls and emails to Buffalo police seeking comment Thursday night had not been returned by Friday morning.

Meanwhile in New York City, protesters again stayed on the streets past 8 p.m., in defiance of the citywide curfew that's set to remain in effect through at least Sunday. Nationwide, the tenor of the protests set off by the death of Floyd, a black man who died Memorial Day after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd's neck, moved  from explosive anger to a quiet yet forceful call for more to be done to address racial injustice.

The switch was largely mirrored in New York City, which saw fewer violent clashes than in days past. But several videos posted to Twitter on Thursday night showed police aggressively confronting peaceful protesters — often resulting in arrest — in the Bronx and elsewhere. In other places, police watched but did not immediately move in, or made orderly arrests without the batons and riot gear of previous nights.

Miguel Fernandes said there were "a lot more nights to go" of marching.

"We're still waiting for a conviction. We still haven't gotten it," Fernandes said. "All they're doing is putting in charges. The system is not doing anything to make these guys pay for what they did."

Earlier Thursday, a memorial service featuring Floyd's brother Terrence Floyd was held at Brooklyn's Cadman Plaza, where the night before police had used batons and pepper spray on protesters who remained after curfew.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Cuomo, both Democrats, said they had not seen the widely shared videos, but Cuomo later tweeted that he was asking James to investigate as part of her look into police tactics during the protests.

NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea has defended his officers and the department's overall use of force.

De Blasio was booed and heckled at Floyd's memorial, where some speakers took shots at the mayor, criticizing his management of the NYPD and response to the coronavirus pandemic. The mayor had praised the police for using "a lot of restraint" overall, but added that "if there's anything that needs to reviewed, it will be."

Shortly after midnight, the mayor tweeted that he had spoken to Shea after seeing a video of a delivery worker arrested. Food delivery is essential work, de Blasio said, adding in a second tweet that journalists covering protests, too, were essential workers.

De Blasio had previously condemned police for roughing up journalists, including two from the AP who were shoved, cursed at and told to go home by officers Tuesday night.

"Will get NYPD to fix this immediately," he tweeted Thursday.

Both Cuomo and de Blasio have said protesters should abide by the curfew to deter the violence, vandalism and destruction that followed protests Sunday and Monday nights. But as darkness fell Thursday, cries of "George Floyd" and "No justice, no peace" continued to ring out from crowds, even as they shrank.

"It's energetic," Kenyata Taylor said. "It's great to be alive, it's history right now."


By JAKE SEINER

Categories / Civil Rights

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Loading...