A woman dressed in Ukrainian colours pours red liquid on herself on the steps of the Palais des Festivals during a screening of the film ‘Acid’, before being removed by security staff. Interested in licensing this video ? Get in touch 👉 http://u.afp.com/wvnD N.B.: AFP’s services and content are for professional use only

Police officers in Buffalo, New York used excessive force to disperse a protest against police brutality on Thursday, shoving a 75-year-old protester who posed no threat to them so hard that he fell to the ground and sustained a bloody head wound. Although the incident took place outside Buffalo’s City Hall, in daylight and in full view of witnesses, including at least five journalists, the Buffalo Police Department initially said in a statement that, during a “skirmish involving protestors, one person was injured when he tripped & fell.”However, that account of what happened was quickly revealed to be a lie. Just over 20 minutes after the police statement was made public, the local NPR affiliate WBFO released distressing video of the incident, which clearly showed that the man only fell to the sidewalk in Niagara Square and hit his head because two officers he tried to talk to shoved him roughly. Although the elderly man hit his head hard on the pavement, and immediately began bleeding from his ear, one officer who had pushed him was stopped from aiding him by another officer who pushed him toward a younger protester, who was sitting on the city hall steps holding a “Black Lives Matter” sign. None of the other officers made any immediate effort to help the injured man. One officer did, however, order the reporter who was filming the incident, Mike Desmond of WBFO, to clear the area. The injured man was hospitalized in serious, but stable condition, according to [More]

Two police officers in Buffalo, New York, have been suspended without pay after they were caught on camera shoving a 75-year-old protester, causing him to fall and knock his head to the ground. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday the local district attorney should investigate the case for potential criminal charges. Barring that, the governor thinks the officers should be fired. Cuomo said he had spoken with the injured protester and said the graphic video of the encounter made him “sick to my stomach.” “It’s just fundamentally offensive and frightening,” Cuomo said. “Who are we? How did we get to this place.” The confrontation occurred shortly after the city’s 8 p.m. curfew on Thursday, NBC affiliate WGRZ reported. Journalists from Spectrum News Buffalo and WBFO were reporting in Niagara Square as they witnessed officers lining up to push back protesters who were out calling for police accountability and racial justice following the death of George Floyd. One of their videos shows the elderly man calmly approaching the officers, appearing to ask them a question, but the officers pushed the man back.

Two Buffalo police officers face criminal charges in the shoving of a 75-year-old protester who fell and cracked his head, ABC News has learned. Read more: https://7ny.tv/2MCdXD6 Check out more Eyewitness News – http://7ny.tv/2suJHTd NEW HERE? – Hi! We’re abc7NY, also known as Channel 7 on TV, home to Eyewitness News, New York’s Number 1 news. We hope you love us on YouTube as much as you do on television! OUR SOCIAL MEDIA – FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/ABC7NY/ TWITTER: https://twitter.com/abc7ny INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/abc7ny/ NEWS TIPS: Online: https://7ny.tv/36UsL9a Phone: 917-260-7700 Email: abc7ny@abc.com #georgefloyd #georgefloydprotests #buffalo

President Donald Trump attacked the 75-year-old Buffalo protester who was shoved by police last week. The incident ignited a furor that led to the prosecution of two officers on charges of felony assault. Trump on Tuesday tweeted a wild and, to say the least, unsubstantiated and unproven conspiracy theory about the man, Martin Gugino. “Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur. 75 year old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment. @OANN I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?”Ari Fleischer, press secretary under George W. Bush, was among those who quickly reacted to the tweet, writing, “The president’s penchant for trafficking in conspiracy theories is, politically speaking, going to ruin him. This is reckless. He doesn’t know when to stop.”Gugino is in serious but stable condition, according to his attorney. He had been demonstrating in a protest following the death of George Floyd. A local radio station captured him as he was approaching the officers, but was shoved. He fell to the ground and landed on the pavement, as blood pooled under his head. Related StoryDonald Trump Says He’s Retained Pollster To Refute CNN, Other Networks That Show Joe Biden LeadThe officers, Aaron Torgalski, 39, and Robert McCabe, 32, were suspended, but 57 officers resigned from the city’s emergency response unit in a union protest of the sanction. The officers have pleaded not guilty. Trump indicated he [More]

Prosecutors were investigating Friday after a video captured police in Buffalo shoving a 75-year-old man who then fell and cracked his head, a confrontation that resulted in the suspension of two officers. Video of Thursday night’s encounter, which happened near the conclusion of protests over the death of George Floyd in Minnesota, quickly sparked outrage. It shows a man identified as Martin Gugino approaching a line of helmeted officers holding batons as they clear demonstrators from Niagara Square around the time of an 8 p.m. curfew. Two officers push Gugino backward, and he hits his head on the pavement. Blood spills as officers walk past. One officer leans down to check on the injured man before he is urged along by another officer. Gugino and the officers all appear to be white, but details of their backgrounds were not released. “Why? Why was that necessary? Where was the threat?” asked Gov. Andrew Cuomo at his daily briefing Friday. The governor said he spoke to Gugino, who had been hospitalized in serious condition. “It’s just fundamentally offensive and frightening. How did we get to this place?” Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz spoke to reporters on Friday and said the officers must be held responsible for their actions following an investigation by the District Attorney. “Police and other law enforcement have a duty to serve and protect the public. We need them to be the guardians of the public, not warriors engaged in battle with the public,” Poloncarz said. The video immediately [More]

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. On Friday, the Erie County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement that prosecutors were investigating the incident. It said Mr. Gugino was unable to provide a statement to investigators on Thursday night at the Erie County Medical Center, where he was taken for treatment for the head injury. On Friday, Mr. Gugino was in serious but stable [More]