Buffalo Officers Who Pushed Elderly Man Down Cleared Of Wrongdoing

BUFFALO, NY — Two Buffalo police officers who pushed an elderly protester to the ground during 2020's Black Lives Matter demonstrations were cleared Friday of any wrongdoing in the incident, according to a report.

An arbitrator found officers Aaron Torgalski and Robert McCabe not guilty of three charges of violating police and city rules, CNN reported, saying their use of force in pushing 75-year-old Martin Gugino was "absolutely legitimate."

The arbitrator also wrote that Gugino was not complying with orders to leave the area and "was definitely not an innocent bystander," according to CNN.

In June 2020, video captured the moment McCabe and Torgalski shoved Gugino backward in front of Buffalo’s City Hall during a protest over the death of George Floyd, causing him to fall and crack his skull on the pavement. The incident sent him to the hospital for a month, where Gugino was forced to recover from a brain injury and a fractured skull, USA Today reported.

McCabe and Torgalski were suspended without pay and arrested within days of the incident, but last year a grand jury declined to indict them and charges were dropped.

An attorney for Gugino, who has sued the city, told the Buffalo News the ruling won't affect the lawsuit.

"We are not aware of any case where this arbitrator has ruled against on-duty police officers, so his ruling here on behalf of the police was not only expected by us but was certainly expected by the union and city who selected and paid him," attorney Melissa D. Wischerath told the newspaper. "His decision has absolutely no bearing on the pending lawsuit."