A 75-year-old man who was pushed to the ground by Buffalo police last year and bled to the ground in a protest, is suing the agents and other officials, according to court documents.
Martin Gugino suffered a skull fracture during the June 4 meeting, which was captured on video.
The lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Western District of New York claims both economic damage and punitive damages “in an amount sufficient to punish them and deter others from similar behavior.”
A prosecutor filed charges against two Buffalo police officers, Robert McCabe and Aaron Torgalski, but a grand jury earlier this month dismissed the charges and dismissed the case.
Those two officers are mentioned in the civil suit, as well as a third who has not been charged, along with the city police commissioner and mayor Byron Brown.
Email requests for comment to the mayor’s office and police were not immediately returned on Tuesday, but on Monday the city had no comment to NBC-affiliated WGRZ. A spokesperson told the station that corporate lawyer would be hearing the case.
Gugino was pushed shortly after a 8pm curfew went into effect.
The protest was held in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt around his neck on May 25. Floyd’s death sparked protests across the country.
The complaint says the police team “shouted in unison, ‘push him, push him'” after Gugino approached a line of police officers wearing batons and helmets.
It is alleged that another officer pushed McCabe and Torgalski in the direction of the activist and then pushed him, causing him to fall and be seriously injured.
After the charges were dismissed earlier this month, the president of the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association defended the officers’ actions.
“Officers McCabe and Torgalski simply followed departmental procedures and their superiors’ guidelines to clear Niagara Square, despite operating in extremely difficult conditions,” said union chairman John Evans. in a statement
Gugino suffered a concussion and a skull fracture and spent nearly a month in the hospital.
Gugino has said he believes the curfew was wrong.
The lawsuit says that Gugino’s right to peaceful assembly was violated, that the use of force against him was illegal and unnecessary, and that the curfew was unconstitutional.
