2 Buffalo police officers suspended without pay after shoving older protester, now hospitalized
Police out to enforce curfew in Buffalo, New York, shoved an older man Thursday evening, causing him to fall backward and audibly hit his head on the pavement, Buffalo NPR affiliate WBFO reports. Blood ran from the man's head as he lay motionless, and the cops who pushed him glanced down and walked on. The unidentified man, treated by two medics, was taken to the hospital in an ambulance and is in stable condition, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz tweeted Thursday night.
A spokesman for the Buffalo Police Department issued a statement Thursday night saying that during a "skirmish invoking protesters, one person was injured when he tripped and fell." It isn't clear if the spokesman had seen the video, but Buffalo Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood later said the two officers involved have been suspended without pay, and a full Internal Affairs investigation has been launched.
"This is happening in multiple cities across the country," New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman tweeted over another viral video involving the Los Angeles Police Department. "Police striking protesters with batons without an apparent provocation, or in the case of the man in Buffalo, shoving them."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Imagine where we would be if they didn't put cameras on cell phones?" wrote veteran news anchor Dan Rather. "And now imagine all that we aren't seeing. And didn't see. And will not see."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Saudi Arabia could become an AI focal pointUnder the Radar A state-backed AI project hopes to rival China and the United States
-
What you need to know about last-minute travelThe Week Recommends You can book an awesome trip with a moment’s notice
-
Codeword: October 29, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
France makes first arrests in Louvre jewels heistSpeed Read Two suspects were arrested in connection with the daytime theft of royal jewels from the museum
-
Trump pardons crypto titan who enriched familySpeed Read Binance founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 to enabling money laundering while CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange
-
Thieves nab French crown jewels from LouvreSpeed Read A gang of thieves stole 19th century royal jewels from the Paris museum’s Galerie d’Apollon
-
Arsonist who attacked Shapiro gets 25-50 yearsSpeed Read Cody Balmer broke into the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion and tried to burn it down
-
Man charged over LA’s deadly Palisades Firespeed read 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht has been arrested in connection with the fire that killed 12 people
-
4 dead in shooting, arson attack in Michigan churchSpeed Read A gunman drove a pickup truck into a Mormon church where he shot at congregants and then set the building on fire
-
2 kids killed in shooting at Catholic school massSpeed Read 17 others were wounded during a morning mass at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murdersspeed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
