2 officers suspended after video shows 75-year-old man being pushed during Buffalo protest - East Idaho News
National

2 officers suspended after video shows 75-year-old man being pushed during Buffalo protest

  Published at  | Updated at

(CNN) — Two police officers in Buffalo, New York, were suspended without pay Thursday after video showed them pushing a 75-year-old man, causing him to fall back and hit his head on the sidewalk, Buffalo Police Department spokesman Mike DeGeorge told CNN.

The man is hospitalized in serious but stable condition, DeGeorge said Friday.

FOLLOW LIVE PROTEST UPDATES

The demonstrators in Niagara Square were, like those across the country, calling for racial justice after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.

Based on initial video, police issued a statement that said the man tripped and fell, DeGeorge said.

After more videos became available, police amended that statement, and Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood suspended the officers and opened an investigation, he said.

“The department moved swiftly” and “corrected” the information, DeGeorge said.

“This incident is wholly unjustified and utterly disgraceful,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Twitter. “Police Officers must enforce — NOT ABUSE — the law.”

Mayor Byron Brown tweeted called the incident “disheartening” and said his thoughts were with the victim.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2020 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

SUBMIT A CORRECTION