New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Calls Out Donald Trump Over Comments About Buffalo Protester Martin Gugino
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called for President Donald Trump to apologize for his Tuesday assertion that a 75-year-old Buffalo, New York protester was pushed down by police.
According to a report by CNBC, Cuomo tore into Trump for his tweet, calling it a “reprehensible dumb comment” on the part of the president.
Trump’s incendiary comment came after the suspension of Buffalo officers who were held responsible for the injury of an elderly demonstrator who was hurt after an incident involving Buffalo police which was caught on video and later went viral on social media.
The name of the 75yo man who was shoved by Buffalo police, as he spoke to them, is Martin Gugino.
Beyond shoving him, cops didn’t immediately render aid.
The police dept said a man tripped & fell. They changed their story after this video surfaced.
pic.twitter.com/qbTvXAAPLH— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) June 5, 2020
The demonstrator, Martin Gugino, was taking part in demonstrations protesting the death of George Floyd, the 46-year-old unarmed African-American man who died while in police custody on May 25.
Buffalo police suspended the two officers involved in the incident, which sparked 57 other members of the department to resign in solidarity with the two officers being blamed for the injury, as The Inquisitr previously reported.
“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,” Trump tweeted on Tuesday. “@OANN I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?”
Cuomo was outraged, stating in a Tuesday press briefing that Trump “should apologize for the tweet.”
“Not a piece of proof. Totally personally disparaging. The man is still in the hospital. Show some decency. Show some humanity.”
.@NYGovCuomo addresses @realDonaldTrump's tweet about Martin Gugino during his daily briefing: pic.twitter.com/2awgbFTiR3
— News 4 Buffalo (@news4buffalo) June 9, 2020
Buffalo Police Department officers can be seen marching toward Gugino in the video, and as he made contact with the line of officers, at least one appeared to push him down to the ground where he fell out of frame. When the camera catches the elderly man again, he is seen with blood streaming out his ear, and at least one officer began to render aid before another officer moved him away.
Gugino told USA TODAY Network New York on Tuesday that his status is improving and that he has been moved out of intensive care and into a regular hospital room. He also told the network that he has been told that doctors expect him to make a full recovery.
When asked to comment on the not infamous event, the demonstrator said he had “no comment” other than to say that “black lives matter.”
Officers were reportedly attempting to enforce the city’s new curfew when the altercation took place.
