Martin Gugino

Martin Gugino, the elderly protester who was pushed by Buffalo police in an incident seen around the world last year, is now suing the City of Buffalo.

Thursday’s news that a grand jury dismissed felony charges against two Buffalo Police Officers has put Martin Gugino’s name back in the national spotlight. Gugino was filmed being shoved to the ground by officers during a June protest in front of City Hall.

An Erie County Grand Jury has voted not to indict Buffalo Police officers Robert McCabe and Aaron Torgalski on charges stemming from a June protest where they were seen on video shoving protestor 75-year-old protester Martin Gugino to the ground in front of Buffalo City Hall.

HEAR GUGINO HERE:

Last week's tweet by President Donald Trump about a Buffalo activist, injured after being pushed and falling in Niagara Square, is just one example of a long-running history of media misinformation. A University at Buffalo expert on media effects, persuasion and misinformation discussed the ongoing trend of spreading false narratives, and offers pointers for better judgment while warning that misinformation will only escalate with a tense presidential election coming.

Police seem to dominate so many conversation these days, as protests continue in Buffalo and around the world. A key issue in all of these conversations is the rules for becoming an officer and how an officer might lose that badge for bad behavior.

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown is expected to soon announce police reform proposals in the wake of the George Floyd protests and a WBFO video showing Buffalo police pushing an elderly protester. However, the Buffalo Common Council’s independent police advisory body already has an idea of what reforms it would like to see.

The President of the United States tweeted Tuesday morning, without providing evidence, that Buffalo activist Martin Gugino "could be an ANTIFA provocateur." Donald Trump also raised questions about Gugino's fall during last Thursday's protest in Niagara Square, and whether he was trying to disrupt police equipment.

A video of Buffalo Police Department officers pushing an elderly white protester has been viewed more than 80 million times on Twitter. Mayor Byron Brown appeared on MSNBC. A CNN crew was at Niagara Square. 

The city of Buffalo has been thrust into the national spotlight of the police brutality protests, after WBFO captured video Thursday of two officers shoving 75-year-old Martin Gugino to the ground outside City Hall, where he bled from his head.

A day after a viral video showed Buffalo police push an elderly man to the ground outside City Hall, several hundred protesters made their way around the city of Buffalo Friday evening while mostly avoiding any contact or confrontations with law enforcement.