“Prosecutors are investigating the actions of two Buffalo police officers who were suspended without pay on Thursday night after a video showed them shoving a 75-year-old protester, who was hospitalized with a head injury.
The video taken by WBFO, a local radio station, shows the man, identified on Friday as Martin Gugino, approaching a group of officers during a protest stemming from the death of George Floyd. He was identified by the Western New York Peace Center, a nonprofit that named him in a Facebook post, saying he is a peace activist and a member.
After the video shows Mr. Gugino stopping in front of the officers to talk, an officer yells “push him back” three times; one officer pushes his arm into Mr. Gugino’s chest, while another extends his baton toward him with both hands. Mr. Gugino flails backward, landing just out of range of the camera, with blood immediately leaking from his right ear.
An officer leans down to examine him, the video shows, but another officer then pulls the first officer away. Several other officers are seen walking by the man, motionless on the ground, without checking on him.”
That’s the story that made the New York Times and most major news outlets. The video of the incident has been viewed 70 million times. Buffalo has been under a curfew for most of the week after some stores were looted earlier in the week.
What’s the state of the protests in your neighborhood?
There was a quiet, church-organized vigil for George Floyd at a local park on Friday evening. I think everything went off peacefully—the church stressed this was to be a “respectful” event. We’re also dealing with the fallout from Drew Brees’s ill-considered and badly-timed comments, but the fact that our area is the expected landfall zone for Tropical Storm Cristobal has actually kept the Brees story from generating the sort of controversy here that it might have at another time.
Deb, I hope you escape the worse effects of Cristobal. We’re supposed to face some heavy rains on Wednesday when the remnants of Cristobal arrives over us.
No protests here in Geezer Acres, of course, but plenty in NYC in general. Quite a few start at Borough Hall or nearby Cadman Plaza in Downtown Brooklyn and walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. And of course there have been many in Manhattan. Most have been peaceful all along, but there are troublemakers and looters – some from here but many from out of town – who are here to make trouble, burn, and steal. But the last few nights have been much quieter.
Jeff, I know Governor Andrew Cuomo has been critical of the Mayor’s handling of the protests. Cuomo did compliment the Mayor of Buffalo and the District Attorney for their prompt actions in the wake of the injured protestor incident.
De Blasio finally dropped the last night of the curfew tonight.
Jeff, I heard the crowd booed De Blasio when he tried to speak to them.
I live in a suburb of a suburb of Columbus Ohio, where there have been demonstrations daily, sporadically involving violence and property destruction.
Columbus Police Chief Tom Quinlan on Tuesday defended the use of pepper spray and tear gas during recent protests, arguing that deploying chemicals to disperse a crowd is more appropriate than arrest.
“That’s the idea of the agents we’re using, is to get people to move,” Quinlan says. “Not to have to then take people and put a criminal charge on them, have that on their record, have to go to court, have to hire an attorney.”
Does this strike anyone else as asinine?
Quinlan says Intelligence reports indicate that “Outside Agitators” are infiltrating peaceful demonstrations – though none have actually been arrested and he offered no evidence.
Dan, I’m confused by the response to many of the protests. Why were peaceful protesters tear-gassed so Trump could have a photo-op holding a Bible? Arsonists and looters should be arrested and prosecuted. I suspect Government officials are willing to allow a certain degree of destruction before they send in law enforcement officers to stop it.
I live about 8 miles from the center of Atlanta and haven’t seen anything other than on television. Except for the first night of the demonstrations, when there was a considerable amount of looting, it’s been pretty peaceful. In the 40+ years I’ve lived here Atlanta has been very lucky with mayors, and we have another good one currently in Keisha Lance Bottoms, who seems to have distinguished herself in the last two weeks. Even our Republican governor, Brian Kemp, has generally kept hands off. That old guy in Buffalo (wait, who am I calling old?) should sue the hell out of somebody.
Michael, I’m sure that 75-year-old protester will file a law suit. I’m impressed by Keisha Lance Bottoms.
I am hoping that all this will lead to a sea change but I remember having the same hopes in a different context after Sandy Hook and Parkland. The public needs to be laser-focused and vote the bastards out in November. Then maybe something will happen and we’ll get the country that we believe in. The the over-whelming and world-wide response to this gives me hope.
BTW, President Tiny Hands hit a new low the other day invoking George Floyd, saying he’s looking down and he’s happy about the jobs numbers. Bah!
Where are my canes? I have to storm the barricade!
Jerry, I agree with your analysis. We’ve been down this road before. A big change in Washington will be necessary to correct all our social, economic, and environmental problems.
A San Diego suburb, la mesa, had a big protest. 2 Banks were burned and a shopping center (a couple of blocks away) was damaged and looted. As of yesterday the large groc store was closed. The banks were closed as of Fri. This was due mostly to a local incident where a guy was shoved by a cop (not sure if it was a LM cop or transit cop) for smoking. The guy denied it and a friend filmed it. They finally looked at the cops cam and dropped charges. A woman was interviewed and said the protest was peaceful for hours, then a bunch of outside agitators came and started the violence.
Santee (Klantee) has had demonstrations and the branch there of one of the closed LM banks closed. I go out there to a 99c store and Grocery Outlet, and was going to go Fri after finding out at the office they cancelled my dental appt. I went to a branch of the bank which had a line, and was told they are busy due to Santee and LM branches closed. I decided to avoid the area. Didn’t hear anything about a problem. Santee is where the guy was in a groc. store wearing a klan hood and a couple put swastikas on their face masks. I’ve heard of the nickname since the 70’s
We’ve had demonstrations downtown as well and other suburbs in No. County.
From everything I’ve heard and seen the protests are peaceful, with outside agitators, and just general looters, not part of the protests for the most part.
You know, Macy’s I understand. Soho I understand. Fifth Avenue (around Rump Tower) I definitely understand. But when they looted and destroyed mom and pop stores on Fordham Road in the Bronx the other night, this was not “outside agitators” but local people, I’m sure. Just despicable.
(Let me make it clear, I mean I “understand” why those places were chosen, not I understand them doing it, or why.)
Jeff, some people are just taking advantage of the protests to loot stores, cause destruction, and set fires. Sadly, large social moments offer opportunities for mayhem for maniacs, thieves, and ruffians.
Maggie, it looks like protests will be a continuing activity in the days ahead.
An amazing number of protests here involving teenagers who have done a great job of organizing and keeping it peaceful. Many of them in working class suburbs, which has been so surprising. The teens are asking older people to vote in their stead. Hopefully we will. They have shut down major highways in several places. I am worried about the covid threat but proud that sixteen year olds have taken this on. Not much looting here. Of course, Detroit doesn’t have many stores to loot.
I keep remembering the OCCUPY WALL STREET protests which led nowhere. Hope this doesn’t happen.
Patti, the protest crowds in Buffalo have been very diverse. Plenty of younger folks from the suburbs. A sprinkling of older protesters. Like you, I’m concerned about the threat of covid-19 being spread by these large crowds. No social distancing. And many protesters aren’t wearing masks.
The German news magazine SPIEGEL reports from Buffalo!
It was on CNN first – the story of a young Black man who was well rewarded for cleaning up the street after a demonstration:
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/06/us/teen-cleans-buffalo-protest-rewarded-with-car-scholarship-trnd/index.html
Wolf, that incident in Buffalo made an impact all around the world!
I no longer read or comment on political, protest or riot subjects. I am doing a voluntary news blackout. I’ve gotten to grumpy, to angry, too perplexed and too stressed. I am reading some old favorites and newer gentle books, as you will see on my blog tomorrow. Nothing anyone else will care about, probably, but so what. When Barbara turns on the news every night, that’s my signal to go to a distant room and close the door, pick up a book and shut out the damn world.
By the way, Barbara baked a cranberry-orange loaf this morning. Delicious. A nice balm in this mostly world of idiots (present company excepted).
Rick, same here. Diane is making a turkey dinner with stuffing today because our temperatures are in the 60s. We’ll be 88 degrees on Tuesday so we’re riding the weather roller coaster. I’ll be interested in what you’re reading tomorrow.