Two Buffalo cops caught on video shoving an elderly George Floyd protester pleaded not guilty to second degree assault Saturday in Erie County.
Robert McCabe and Aaron Torgalski were arraigned via video conference and released without bail.
Cheers erupted from fellow off-duty officers, firefighters and others as McCabe, 32, and Torgalski, 39, left the Erie County courthouse.
“It was tremendous, tremendous to see,” John Evans, president of the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association, told WIVB-TV. “I just think it’s a strong indication of the outrage basically over this travesty.”
The officers were suspended without pay Friday after the confrontation from the day before with longtime activist Martin Gugino, 75, went viral.
In the clip, one of the officers shoves Gugino, causing him to stumble backward and fall and hit the back of his head on the pavement.
The cops “knew this was bad,” Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said at a press conference. “Look at their body language.”
Mayor Byron Brown described Gugino as an “agitator.”
The suspension prompted the entire Buffalo police Emergency Response Team, of which the two officers were members, to resign Friday in solidarity.
“Fifty-seven resigned in disgust because of the treatment of two of their members, who were simply executing orders,” said John Evans, president of the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association.
But Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday at an Albany briefing that from what he saw on the footage, there is “criminal liability.”
“I think what the mayor did and the district attorney did was right, and I applaud them for acting as quickly as they did,” he said. “What we saw was horrendous and disgusting, and I believe, illegal,” he added.
The officers are due back in court July 20.
If convicted of the felony assault charge, they face up to seven years in prison.
With Post wires




