NBC:
If the man, Martin Gugino, 75, was being disorderly, officers could have arrested him, the prosecutor said. “You don’t take a baton and shove it … and knock him down, and crack his head.”
In an earlier report the Mayor of Buffalo has said he will not fire the two officers.
Two Buffalo officers, who were suspended without pay after a video showed police shoving a 75-year-old man to the ground at a George Floyd protest on Thursday night, were charged Saturday with second-degree assault.
A large crowd of police officers and firefighters stood in front of Buffalo City Court to show support for the two officers as they attended a virtual arraignment on Saturday.
Officers Robert McCabe, 32, and Aaron Torgalski, 39, pleaded not guilty to the charges of second-degree assault, a felony, and will be released on their own recognizance, according to NBC affiliate WGRZ in Buffalo. They are both scheduled to return to court on July 20 for a felony hearing.
