The assault charges against two Buffalo, New York, police officers seen in a video shoving a 75-year-old man to the ground during a protest last year have been dropped.
Aaron Torgalski and Robert McCabe were charged with second-degree assault for their involvement in an incident last June at Niagara Square where they pushed 75-year-old Martin Gugino, causing him to fall backwards onto the concrete, and bleed from a head wound.
In the graphic video, you see Gugino on the floor, unconscious as his head starts bleeding. Gugino's attorney said he suffered a fractured skull and brain injury as a result of the incident.
Erie County district attorney John Flynn said he was unable to disclose much from the proceedings, though he “sandbagged nothing.” He added, “I went into that grand jury, I put all relevant evidence into that grand jury. I put multiple witnesses in that grand jury. I put everything that was not cumulative into that grand jury. And you got my word on that.”
The Buffalo Police Department says the officers remain suspended as they await the outcome of an internal-affairs inquiry, which was on hold as BPD awaited the outcome of the criminal case.
Photo by YE AUNG THU/AFP via Getty Images