Entire 57-member Buffalo police team resigns to support officers who pushed over 75-year-old man

Buffalo police officer shoves over man.
(Image credit: Sceenshot/WBFO)

Buffalo, New York's entire police emergency response team has resigned, the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association said Friday.

Video recorded by local NPR affiliate WBFO went viral on Thursday night showing Buffalo Police Emergency Response team members pushing over an older man who had walked up to them, causing him to fall and start bleeding from his head. Two officers involved in the case were suspended without pay Thursday night, and on Friday, "57 resigned in disgust because of the treatment of two of their members," Buffalo PBA president John Evans told the Investigative Post.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

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.

Sign up

The man was later revealed to be 75-year-old Martin Gugino, a longtime peace activist from the area. The video appears to show Gugino holding an officers' helmet as he walks up and tries to talk to officers. One officer then comes up and shoves him, causing him to fall backward. The officer who shoved Gugino also seems to stop another officer from tending to the man.

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown quickly suspended the officers, and Erie County's district attorney launched a probe of the incident. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has also called for a state investigation into the matter to find "possible criminal charges."

Explore More

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.